To 18 September 2014

His Excellency
Shri Keshari Nath Tripathi
The Honourable Governor of West Bengal
Chancellor, Jadavpur University
Raj Bhavan
Kolkata- 700 062

Sub: Police Atrocities on Jadavpur University Campus on 17 September 2014


Respected Sir,
We, the students of Jadavpur University, are writing this letter with regard to the incident of police atrocities and
detentions of students that took place on the early morning of 17 September 2014 (2:30 am) on Jadavpur University
campus. Students of Jadavpur University were peacefully holding a sit-in demonstration protesting the heinous
incident of gender violence and physical assault that took place on the night of 28
th
August 2014. A detailed
narrative chronology of the events which followed is attached to this mail for your kind perusal. (Please see
Annexure 1).
The highest decision-making body of the university, the Executive Council, had a scheduled meeting on 16
September 2014. Unfortunately, this grave issue was given no special attention in the meeting and the students were
given absolutely no assurance whatsoever on an impartial probe into the matter by setting up of an independent
investigative committee constituting external members such as a retired judge, a psychiatrist, a gender rights
activist, a Womens Commission member and a Human Rights Commission member, amongst others. There was
also no response from the authority with regard to the removal of two members of the Internal Complaints
Cell who allegedly tried to put pressure on the victim to influence the probe. (Please see Annexure 1)
On the same day (16th September), students resolved to continue the sit-in demonstration (which had started on
10th September and had gone on without any pause) until the Executive Council and the Vice-Chancellor issue a
simple statement of clarification on the status of the matter. There was no response from the university
authority and every attempt at communication failed.
At around 2:30 am in the morning, a disproportionately huge and armed police force and unidentified men entered
the university campus. The combined force brutally assaulted unarmed protestors. Male police officers and
unidentified men manhandled female protestors, grabbed them by the hair, and tore their clothes. Many students
were grievously hurt and had to be admitted to nearby hospitals. In total, 37 Students were detained were taken to
the Lal Bazaar Police Headquarters.
We strongly condemn this excessive and brutal use of force on unarmed students who were leading a peaceful and
completely non-violent protest movement for a week. As students we also feel that by condoning such a horrific act
of violence against his own students (with tremendous apathy and lack of sensitivity before and after the incident)
the current Vice-Chancellor has lost the moral authority to lead an educational institution.


We, the students of Jadavpur University strongly feel that the Vice-Chancellor should resign for this highly
condemnable action of calling in police to attack unarmed students on campus and also for his apathy and
unwillingness to negotiate with peacefully protesting students.
Furthermore, we believe that Jadavpur University should have provisions for adequate student representation in its
Executive Council since this will prevent this total breakdown of trust between the students and the university
authorities.
Sir, we humbly request you, as the highest executive authority in Jadavpur University, to act immediately and
intervene in this extremely serious matter. We request you to deliver justice to the students who have been
assaulted, both in the original incident and during the agitation thereafter.
Yours sincerely,
Students of Jadavpur University


Annexure 1
Detailed Narrative Report of the Incident
From 28 August 2014 to 12 September 2014
On the night of 28
th
August, during the ongoing university festival, a second year student from the Department of
History, Jadavpur University, was allegedly molested inside campus premises by a group of people, and her male
friend (not a JU student) was beaten up. According to the victim, she had gone near the hostel to relieve herself
given the unavailability of bathrooms at the time, accompanied by her friend. On their way back, a group of boys
allegedly passed snide remarks which led to a scuffle, while her friend was allegedly pulled away and beaten up, she
was dragged into the hostel, where she claims she was molested.
She tried to get in touch with the University authorities immediately the following day (August 29) On meeting the
VC, he maintained that he would need 15 days to act on the issue, and asked her to stay away from college for those
days due to security issues. When told that it was his responsibility to provide security to the students, he claimed
students would protest if he tried to enforce strict surveillance in the campus. The victim was not even informed of
the Anti-Sexual Harassment Cell, an autonomous body that does not work under the VCs supervision. Faced with
such apathy, she was forced to lodge an FIR at the Jadavpur Police Station on 1
st
September.
The general students of the university organized a General Body meeting on 3 September 2014 where a deputation
to the Dean of Students was finalized. This deputation demanded the setting up of an independent investigative
committee constituting external members such as a retired judge, a psychologist, a gender rights activist, a Womens
Commission member, a Human Rights Commission member, amongst others. It also demanded that the
investigation procedure should be processed within 7 days, and that each and every student should be kept abreast
of its proceedings.
In the FIR that was lodged, the victim had already identified one of the accused. In any case under the IPC, the
police can make prima facie arrests based on the identification made by the victim. The identified accused can be
brought in for their statements to be recorded. Since the police remained inactive despite the VCs supposed
approval, the general students organized a protest rally to Jadavpur Police Station on 5 September 2014.
Representatives of the students body were informed by the police that they would require some more time.


The same day (5 September 2014) saw two representatives of the University authorities paying the victim an
unauthorized visit. They refused to present identification and questioned the victims clothing and sobriety on the
night of 28
th
August a clear violation of law that asserts that there should be no external pressure either on the
victim or the accused during the investigating procedure. The victim, quite traumatized with the entire incident,
lodged a general diary on the same day at the Bidhan Nagar Police Station. On 8 September 2014, members of the
AIPWA (All India Progressive Womens Association) accompanied by members of the general students body went
to submit a deputation to the Vice-Chancellor in whose absence the Pro-Vice-Chancellor received it. The pro-VCs
only response to every question asked on the matter was, I dont know.
The same day 8 September 2014 saw a protest rally organized by the general students to the VCs office demanding
an explanation for the victim-blaming, but the ICC (Internal Complaint Cell) members refused to make any public
statement. The students representative of the ICC, also the General Secretary of AFSU, (Arts Faculty Students
Union) resigned from her post as member in protest against the biased nature of the investigation. It was decided
through general consensus that a public statement would be requested from the ICC memebrs. In the process of
preventing them from leaving without making a public statement, students (both male and female) faced violent
resistance from the unidentified men who were accompanying the members for their protection. Afterwards, when
a few representatives from the students body were finally allowed an audience with 3 members of the ICC, the
latter altogether denied a part in any kind of victim-blaming, and urged the students not to sensationalize the
incident in the media.
Incidentally, on 9 September 2014, the Bengali daily, Ei Shomoy published a report where a member of the ICC
had claimed that she was physically assaulted by students. I was shoved, kicked and strangled was her statement
to the newspaper, even though female students had only built up a human barricade to stop her from leaving. A
General Body meeting was organized on the same day where an open letter was written addressed to the said
member questioning the authenticity of her accusation and demanding proof in the form of CCTV footage since
students were under CCTV surveillance the entire time during the sit-in.
On 10
th
September another GB meeting was called where the students decided to go on an indefinite sit-in in front
of Aurobindo Bhavan (the main office on campus) till a public statement was issued. The VC still refused to utter a
word and kept expressing absolute nonchalance. In the evening on the same day, after another GB meeting, it was
decided that students would rally to the Chancellors office demanding an immediate investigation into the matter,
and would ask the VC to call an Emergency EC meeting on 12
th
September to set up the investigative committee
since the ICC has clearly proved itself to be inefficient and criminal by violating the legal guidelines. The same
evening, in an interaction with the student representatives, the VC claimed that if he felt the necessity he would ask
for police intervention and stated that the students week-old deputation would only be presented at the EC
meeting scheduled for 16th September. Since this meant that the issue would be reserved as a zero hour topic, the
students drafted a deputation for an emergency EC meeting to be held within 24 hours. The sit-in continued
throughout the night despite disturbances in the form of attempts in intimidation by the police. There was no
response from the authority to the deputation and the Executive Council meeting was held as per schedule on 16
September 2014. The incident which followed has already been charted in detail in the main content of our letter.