The university was adjudged the best in the state by the Union education ministry-affiliated National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) in 2023, and the fourth in the country after IISc, Bengaluru, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, and Jamia Millia Islamia, also in Delhi, for the second consecutive year.

On October 12, however, the university witnessed an unprecedented event in which Sau along with Snehamanju Basu, university registrar, Amitabha Datta, pro-VC and a section of professors sat on a demonstration against the ‘unruly and abusive’ behaviour of a section of students. It lasted for nearly 24 hours.

“Usually the portico of Aurobindo Bhavan, the administrative building of the university, is where students hold their protests. Last week, however, there seemed to be a role reversal. The university witnessed something unprecedented. The VC, registrar, pro-VC all sitting on a protest,” a university student said.

The V-C was seen lying down on his chest on a bedsheet, spread on the floor in the portico of the administrative building, signing documents while the registrar and other senior professors sat beside him.

“A section of the students has been making unjustified and undemocratic demands. They demanded that representatives from all students’ hostel blocks be included in administrative and policy-making bodies such as the executive council and anti-ragging committee. This is against the statute,” Sau told HT.

The university has been in the spotlight since August 10 when a first-year student allegedly jumped to death from the second floor of the hostel after he was severely ragged and sexually harassed by a gang of seniors and former students who were staying in the hostel illegally.

Police registered a murder case on the basis of a complaint lodged by the victim’s father and arrested 13 current and former students. As the police probe into the incident progressed, the University Grants Commission (UGC) pulled up the university as anti-ragging rules were flouted.

This, however, was not the first time Sau voiced his frustration. Earlier in September, within a month of joining, Sau said even he was a ‘victim of ragging’ by a section of students.

“Out of the 13,000 odd students, a section is unnecessarily creating disruptions and making unjustified demands. After the unfortunate death of a student, the university wanted to put some restrictions on the safety of the students. (But) a section of the students is not allowing the administration to take any decision or work. I think there are some brains behind them who are actually pulling the strings. I am not being allowed to leave the office. What kind of attitude is this? Even I am a victim of ragging,” Sau had told the media, adding that a conspiracy had been hatched to force him to resign.

On August 23, the officiating V-C was picketed for a few hours by students who demanded that an all-stakeholder meeting be called to discuss anti-ragging measures.

An executive council meeting was called on September 26 but it remained inconclusive. A meeting was again called last week in which a group of “unruly and abusive” students allegedly barged in and disrupted it, officials said.

“A university student had died on August 10. But still, no action has been taken. This is a failure on the authority’s part. We want those responsible for this to be punished as per UGC anti-ragging guidelines. As for last week’s incident, in which a section of students became unruly, we condemn this. Everyone has democratic rights but not by curbing or infringing the rights of others,” said Partha Pratim Ray, general secretary of the Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association.

An internal probe committee set up by the university has recommended expelling four university students, who are among the 13 arrested – six current and seven former students -- for their role in the 17-year-old’s death.

After the student’s death, JU authorities implemented a number of measures including installing CCTV cameras and moving freshers to a new hostel, following UGC’s anti-ragging guidelines.

“Students, in general, should be well-manned but the extent of student’s movements depends a lot on how the authorities deal with them. The JU authority instead of being compassionate with the students is busy drawing attention and cheap publicity. They called up ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) to install CCTV cameras. They are not interested in solving the problems which include ragging,” said Srijan Bhattacharya, state secretary of the Students Federation of India (SFI).

The state’s premier educational institution has witnessed large-scale students protests between 2010 and 2015 including against the decision to install CCTV cameras on the campus.

In 2010 the then VC Pradip Narayan Ghosh was picketed for 52 hours; in 2014 Chakraborty faced similar protests over installing CCTV cameras and had to step down in January 2015. The cameras were dismantled in 2015.

In another instance, students picketed the V-C, registrar and others on the intervening night of September 16 and 17 in 2014, demanding a probe panel be set up to investigate the alleged sexual harassment of a girl student on the campus on August 28. The V-C called the police to break the demonstration by students. In the ensuing police baton charge, many students were injured and nearly three dozen were arrested.

“During my tenure a decade ago, I had installed CCTV cameras, flood lights were installed and production of identity cards at gates was made mandatory. But soon after I had to step down, all these were removed,” said Abhijit Chakraborty, former VC of the university.