West Bengal Minister Dilip Ghosh said that anti-national slogans will not be permitted at Jadavpur University in Kolkata [1, 2, 3].
The statement signals a tightening of state oversight on campus speech and highlights the ongoing tension between government authorities and student activists in West Bengal.
Ghosh, who serves as the Minister of School Education and Information & Cultural Affairs, said that some groups engage in anti-national activities on the university campus [2]. He said that while writing slogans is a long-standing tradition in Bengal, slogans that threaten patriotism cannot be allowed on university premises [2, 3].
Addressing the potential for future protests, Ghosh said, "No one can raise anti-national slogans" [3]. He said that if such slogans return to the campus, the administration would launch a "surgical strike" [2]. This terminology suggests a targeted and decisive punitive response to student dissent.
Beyond the rhetoric of a strike, the minister also said that students who support specific figures associated with such slogans or engage in these activities could be fired from their studies [1]. This threat of academic termination marks a significant escalation in the state's approach to student expression.
Ghosh said that the preservation of national integrity outweighs the tradition of campus graffiti when the content is deemed harmful to the state [2, 3]. The warning comes as part of a broader effort to curb what the minister describes as anti-national tendencies within academic institutions [2].
“"No one can raise anti-national slogans."”
The use of military terminology like 'surgical strike' to describe administrative action against students indicates a shift toward a more securitized approach to campus governance. By framing student slogans as threats to national security rather than political expression, the West Bengal government is setting a precedent that could lead to increased surveillance and harsher disciplinary measures for student activists at Jadavpur University.
