Clashes at Kolkata's SRFTI as students and ABGP members trade assault claims

A clash broke out on Sunday between a section of students and members of the Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat (ABGP), a right-wing consumer group, over a programme the group organised on the campus of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) in Kolkata, leaving several people injured, PTI reports.

The students allege that speakers at the ABGP event delivered “highly provocative speeches” and that they were beaten up by the group’s members when they protested. The students’ spokesperson alleged ABGP members entered the campus, assaulted students — including female students — and called them “anti-national”, “urban Naxals” and “terrorists”, according to PTI via ThePrint.

The ABGP, on the other hand, claimed the students tore posters, disrupted the programme and attacked them. An ABGP member claimed four people had been admitted to hospital and alleged a statue or picture of Swami Vivekananda was damaged in the melee.

The organisation had rented the institute’s main auditorium — SRFTI is a central government-run institute — for the programme, which ran from 12pm to 4pm on Sunday with the institute authorities’ permission, PTI reports. As tensions flared, students blocked the institute’s gates and staged a sit-in while police personnel stood guard outside; a large police contingent led by Deputy Commissioner of Police Arindam Sarkar reached the campus, and additional forces were deployed. The Statesman reports bricks and water bottles were thrown from outside the campus gate.

An SRFTI official said the authorities were keeping a tab on the situation, that police were deployed outside the campus, and that the situation was now under control, with no report of any serious injury to anyone.

SRFTI, named after the legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray, is India’s second national centre for cinema education, established in 1995 by the Government of India. The clash comes weeks after a clash between members of the ABVP and Left-wing student organisations at Jadavpur University, PTI notes.

Sources

• ThePrint (PTI): Students, right-wing consumer group members clash at SRFTI campus over ‘provocative speeches’
• The Statesman: Student groups clash at Kolkata’s Satyajit Ray Film Institute over campus event
• ETV Bharat: Clash erupts at Kolkata’s SRFTI over right-wing consumer group event
• Indian Express: Kolkata SRFTI clash — students injured during ABGP event
• ABP Live: Kolkata SRFTI clash — students, event organisers face off, police deployed on campus