Vivek Agnihotri's film screening triggers new row at Jadavpur

Kolkata: A day after the screening of Vivek Agnihotri’s controversial film “Buddha in a Traffic Jam” triggered clashes at the Jadavpur University here, a section of students have called for a protest march on Saturday against “planned fascist attacks” in educational institutions. Advocating ‘Indomitable Jadavpur’, the agitators have appealed to the student community from West Bengal to participate in the protest march at the varsity playground in the evening. “The students of this country are facing the fascist rage directly, and since they are trying to confront their ideas and challenging their role in education, the students everywhere in this country are being threatened, beaten up and even murdered. [caption id=“attachment_2770044” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Image courtesy - CNN News18[/caption] “Today, Jadavpur University is also facing similar planned fascist attacks on its autonomous space. So we appeal the student community of this state to join us in a rally to protest against such kind of fascist makeover of the educational institutions,” said a statement from the students. Calcutta University students have also expressed solidarity with the agitators. The Jadavpur University authorities on Friday filed a police complaint against four outsiders - three of them ABVP activists - for allegedly molesting female students of the varsity during a commotion over an open-air screening of Agnihotri’s film “Buddha in a Traffic Jam”. With the campus on the boil over the screening of the movie, that faced loud protests from a large section of Left-leaning students loyal to the Faculty of Engineering and Technology Students’ Union (FETSU) and sparked clashes, vice-chancellor Suranjan Das blamed the JU Alumni Association for granting permission to the organisers to use the Triguna Sen Auditorium and then cancelling it. The agitators claim the movie “is a debatable one for its misrepresentation of the tribal resistance against neoliberal attacks and the attacks on Dalits on behalf of the state.”