Students on warpath with Visva Bharati authority after it sets up panel to probe BJP MP's confinement

The Visva Bharati University on Friday set up a 3-member panel to probe the incident of alleged confinement of BJP MP Swapan Dasgupta on the campus on January 8, setting off a storm, with students demanding that an inquiry be first conducted into alleged assault on them two days back.

Dasgupta, along with Vice Chancellor B Chakraborty and others was confined for six hours in a university building as hundreds of Left-leaning students staged a demonstration accusing the politician of promoting hatred among communities. He had gone there to deliver a lecture on the controversial new citizenship law.

"We have formed a three-member committee to look into the matter where BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta had said that he was locked in a room with a mob outside, at the university, where he was addressing a meeting on Citizenship Amendment Act on January 8," a senior official said in New Delhi.

The panel will also look into the alleged clash between two groups of students of the university on January 15.

Hours after the committee was formed, students aligned to Left parties took out a protest march in front of the central office of the university, demanding that the assault on students be probed first.

"There is no need to inquire into confinement of Dasgupta. The University should first form a panel to look into the assault on students, who are its assets. Dasgupta may be an MP but he is an outsider. Why is the VC so bothered about a BJP MP?" a protester said.

Dasgupta, a journalist-turned-politician, had taken to Twitter to inform the public about the incident.

"How does it feel to have a mob attack a peaceful meeting on CAA and intimidation students? This is what is happening to a meeting I am addressing at Vishwa Bharati now. Locked into the room now with mob outside," he had tweeted.

According to police, a group of men, armed with iron rods and sticks, had attacked the students of a boys' hostel inside the Visva Bharati campus on Wednesday night leaving several of them injured.

"Two groups of students clashed inside the campus. It was not linked to politics. The security officer and others went there to sort out the matter," the central university's Public Relations Officer Anirban Sarkar had said.

Two persons - identified as Achintya Bagdi and Saber Ali - were arrested on Thursday for their alleged involvement in the attack, an officer of Santiniketan police station said.

An SFI member was hospitalised and several others had suffered minor injuries in the attack.

Bagdi and Ali were remanded in police custody for nine days by a Bolpur court.

SFI's Visva Bharati unit leader Somnath Sau had said the two were former students of the university who owed allegiance to the ABVP. He claimed they were earlier associated with the students wing of the ruling TMC.

ABVP's Birbhum district coordinator Ramesh Paramanik, however, said, "Neither Achintya Bagdi nor Saber Ali are associated with the ABVP in any way. It is known to all that they lead the TMCP at Visva Bharati."

As protests erupted at Visva Bharti on Friday, state's education minister Partha Chatterjee accused the BJP and RSS- linked ABVP of trying to vitiate the atmosphere in educational institutions.

West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh blamed students belonging to Left organisations for the fracas, alleging they were destroying prestigious institutions.

Visva Bharati, an Institution of National Importance was founded by Rabindranath Tagore.