Clashes at Jadavpur University over student body meeting leave several injured

Violence broke out inside the Jadavpur University campus in West Bengal late Wednesday (August 19, 2026) as supporters of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the Students Federation of India (SFI) clashed over a proposed general body meeting. Reports indicate that sticks and batons were used, and posters were torn and burned near the administrative headquarters, Aurobindo Bhawan.

The confrontation is linked to a long-standing dispute over the student union. No student elections have been held at the university for several years, and there are currently no officially elected representatives. ABVP supporters claimed that a general body meeting was being convened despite this lack of representation. They also alleged that several of their members, including the ABVP's Jadavpur University unit president, Nikhil Das, were injured in the clashes.

In a post on social media, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) accused ABVP supporters of arriving on motorcycles late at night and attacking students with weapons, vandalising union rooms, and setting fire to belongings. This account could not be independently verified.

BJP MLA from Jadavpur, Sarbari Mukherjee, blamed SFI supporters and student leader Srijan Bhattacharya for the ruckus. Mr. Bhattacharya, however, rejected the allegation, saying the MLA was blaming students for violence that had been orchestrated by her own side.

On Thursday, both SFI and ABVP supporters were called for a gathering outside the campus, with a heavy police presence deployed in the area. Vice-Chancellor Chiranjeev Bhattacharya described the violence as unfortunate and said that, if necessary, police would be posted on the campus around the clock. He also announced that an inquiry would be initiated to determine who started the violence.

Jadavpur University is often described as one of the last bastions of Left-led student politics in West Bengal, and tensions between student groups have periodically flared over the past years. The latest incident has raised concerns about the safety of students and the need for a transparent mechanism to address campus disputes.