Recently, after the screening of Vivek Agnihotri’s Buddha In A Traffic Jam was cancelled, the university has recorded continued turbulence and disruption in campus. The film was granted permission to be screened by the Alumni Association of Jadavpur. However, it was soon called off, following which, the ABVP (Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad), student wing of RSS screened it at a ground nearby. This intermittently led to severe clashes between JU students and ABVP supporters.
Reports concluded the filmmaker’s car having intercepted; some ABVP supporters having molested girl students; violent throttle between the ABVP and the students of the left-leaning FETSU organisation, leading to subsequent arrests; and the Governor assessing that what was previously a centre for excellence was now turning into a centre for disturbance. Even commuters and wayfarers weren’t spared as they were barred passage from the daily thoroughfare and were instead made to take a roundabout way to their destinations.
What leaves a cloud of mystery and speculation is the fact that why was a film, which was restricted screening still allowed to be screened in the campus playground following which a scuffle ensued and only made matters worse. In retaliation, the students at JU screened Muzaffarnagar Baqi Hai, featuring the 2013 UP riots. Things fur-balled into the offensive and the coming days saw widespread protests and war-zone-like scenario inside the campus with students being assaulted, manhandled and even molested.
Honestly, violence is not the solution to any problem, but oppression isn’t either. One must anatomize the problem at the grass-root level. Troublemakers ought to be booked, but let’s not forget the old idiom that where there is a smoke, there is always a fire.
