An ultra-Left students’ outfit Revolutionary Students’ Front (RSF) triggered a row by symbolically naming the venue of its state conference after Maoist leaders killed by security forces.
IMAGE: During a protest against rising air pollution in Delhi NCR at India Gate recently, some students put up a poster of slain CPI-Maoist ‘commander’ Madvi Hidma. Photograph: ANI Photo
The Revolutionary Students’ Front’s three-day conference, which began on November 24, was held at the Vivekananda Auditorium of Jadavpur University.
It named Jadavpur as ‘Hidma Nagar’, Kolkata as ‘Koteswar Rao Nagar’, and the auditorium as ‘Basavaraju Auditorium’.
CPI-Maoist ‘commander’ Madvi Hidma was killed in an exchange of fire with security forces on November 18 in Andhra Pradesh’s Alluri Sitaramaraju district. Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju, the powerful general secretary of CPI-Maoist, was killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region in May.
Koteswar Rao alias Kishenji was killed at Burishol village in the Junglemahal region of West Bengal in 2011.
RSF general secretary Tathagata Roy Chowdhury claimed, “The naming was symbolic, and there was no discussion or debate at the conference that may suggest any secessionist and anti-national activity.”
“Those who worked and stayed with the poor people, sacrificing material comforts, bright careers and secure jobs, should be remembered by us,” he said.
Roy Chowdhury claimed that discussing the rights of indigenous communities over forests, land and water does not imply anything against the spirit of nationalism.
“We will continue our fight against attempts by corporates and the rich to usurp natural resources, and displace farmers and tribals,” he said.
The conference, participated by representatives of radical outfits like the Sangrami Shramik Manch, Sangrami Krishak Manch and the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners, had begun with a moment of silence for the three dreaded Maoists — whom the RSF remembered as “martyrs”, according to those who attended it.
As the government has upped its offensive against Maoists, aiming to eliminate them by March 2026, the incident triggered a furore at the varsity, which is known for academic excellence and a heavy presence of various Left-wing students’ outfits. It is a practice among Left outfits to symbolically name the venues of their conferences or programmes after deceased personalities and veteran leaders.
Vice-Chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharya could not be reached for a comment.
A senior official of the varsity said permission was given to the outfit for the conference as per norms.
“We did not know what would transpire during the conference,” he said.
A member of the Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association (JUTA) said that while a students’ outfit has the liberty to hold its own programme and invite fraternal wings sharing the same ideology, “some lines have to be drawn”.
A senior police officer said inputs have been gathered about the programme.
“We are keeping watch on the development. It is an internal matter of a university, and we cannot intervene,” he said.
