West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday vowed to "uproot" forces allegedly raising slogans such as "Kashmir Mange Azadi" and "red salute to Kishenji" at Jadavpur University, saying he would not tolerate what he described as an insult to the saffron colour or the country.
Adhikari made the remarks while addressing a gathering outside the university at the 8B Bus Stand after leading a three-kilometre ‘Gerua Samman Yatra’ (Saffron Honour March) from Golpark. Dressed in saffron and carrying a saffron flag, he was accompanied by a large number of BJP workers and monks, including Naga Sadhus, who raised slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ during the procession.
Calling Jadavpur University the "land of Sri Aurobindo" and a centre of excellence, Adhikari said he had taken a vow to remove from the campus those who raise slogans seeking freedom for Kashmir and those who support such slogans.
Won't tolerate insult to saffron: Suvendu's warning to Jadavpur University
"I will not tolerate the insult of saffron. I have given a clear message,” Adhikari said, adding that the state government would not allow such slogans to continue from Jadavpur.
Kishenji, whose name was invoked in the alleged slogans, was a senior Maoist leader who was killed in a police encounter in Paschim Medinipur in 2011.
Adhikari also announced plans to return to the area and said religious programmes would be organised to counter those whom he accused of insulting the country and saffron.
He said he would visit the area to recite the Bhagavad Gita and, on another occasion, the Hanuman Chalisa. He also announced a three-day Vedic recital programme at Jadavpur University and appealed to people to participate.
“This is the land of Swami Vivekananda, and saffron will remain here," he told the gathering, calling on supporters to stand against those he accused of undermining national sentiments.
The BJP leader’s remarks came a day before a special session of the West Bengal Assembly, during which the West Bengal Universities and Colleges Administration and Regulation Amendment Bill is scheduled to be introduced.
According to Adhikari, the proposed legislation will allow the state government to transfer teaching and non-teaching staff between state-aided universities. He said he had asked the higher education minister and parliamentary affairs minister to allow him 15-20 minutes to speak on the Bill.
Political tensions at Jadavpur University
The march comes amid growing political and ideological tensions at Jadavpur University, where clashes and competing slogans involving Left-wing student groups and the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) have intensified in recent days.
During Wednesday’s procession, a Naga Sadhu thanked Adhikari for raising the issue and questioned why those who had “sacrificed their lives for the country” were being insulted.
The mobilisation also comes less than two weeks after Adhikari attended an event outside the university where around 10,000 people reportedly participated in singing the full version of ‘Vande Mataram’.
At that gathering, Adhikari had targeted both the CPI(M)-led Left Front and the Trinamool Congress (TMC), accusing them of allowing nationalism to “fade from public consciousness”.
With inputs from PTI
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