We were ambushed by JU students: ABVP

Kolkata: He is a professor of history at Bangabasi College, but Debasish Chaudhuri's current identity is that of an ABVP supporter who was "roughed up" by Jadavpur University students on Friday night. Chaudhuri, who grew up in Delhi and did his post-graduation at JNU, claims that the four ABVP supporters named in the FIR for molesting girls were "mentally tortured and physically abused" by JU students that night.

However, Anindya Sengupta, assistant professor of JU film studies department, who was part of the michhil, wonders, "What was a Bangabasi College professor doing on our campus?"

Chaudhuri claims he and the other ABVP supporters were invited by JU students for the screening of 'Buddha In A Traffic Jam'. But Sengupta countered: "The problem is that they brought 150 extra people. Students reacted to them. The film is against a certain kind of student activism. Students who are passionately involved in activism might feel belittled. Hence, their reaction to the outsiders who were thoroughly politically motivated. They came to provoke violence. When you become provocative against women, it is akin to molestation."

After the screening, Chaudhuri said, he was standing outside gate No. 2 when an ABVP supporter rushed to say that Prosenjit Biswas was being bashed up.

"I ran over and found Prosenjit writhing in pain. Sandip Das, Tanmoy Basak and Partha Chakraborty were also beaten up. Since Prosenjit was seriously injured, he was taken to hospital," he said.

Tanmoy, a freelancer in event management, alleges that some 150 JU students carried on an "ambush attack" on them. "We were invited by JU students for the screening. But a section of them harassed us and badly injured my rib cage with their boots," he said. Fellow ABVP supporter Partha describes vice-chancellor Suranjan Das as 'god'. "Had he not reached on time, we might have been lynched. We explained to him that it is impossible for four of us to have molested so many students and that too in the presence of media. But I want a proper investigation," he said, alleging that JU girls "spit on him". "They banged my head so hard that I am still in pain. I've got a CT scan done and might need hospitalisation. They threatened to file molestation charges against us," Partha said.

Chaudhuri claimed he hugged Sandip to protect him and took the blows meant for him. "They tore my shirt, punched my face and dragged me by the neck. I have scratch marks all over my back," Chaudhuri said.

Things got worse after the JU students took them to Aurobindo Bhawan, said Chaudhuri. "They teased us, abused us. One student came inside on the pretext of offering medical help, but mocked us," alleged Chaudhuri, who has been teaching in Kolkata for 16 years. He is exploring legal options for his ABVP colleagues. "Why would I molest anyone? Even my college students are calling up and saying they want to protest my harassment. I've a six-year-old daughter and a four-year-old son. My wife is appalled with the way female students heckled me. She wants to avenge the wrong done to me."

JU students reject the ABVP claims. Shounak Mukhopadhyay, a first-year PG student, said: "It is expected that these ABVP supporters will not accept the charges. Our students saw them provoking girls. They never expected us to show so much of courage and identify the guilty and hand them over to the authorities. Which is why they are coming up with excuses and alibis. An FIR has been filed because there are eyewitnesses who saw how they abused women by saying: 'Meyechhele hoye eto katha bolchis kikore (how dare you talk when you are a girl)?' They groped the girls. We will fight till the end."