A group of students from the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) staged a protest, both inside and outside the Lipika Auditorium of Visva-Bharati, on Friday accusing the authorities of allowing an organisation associated with the saffron ecosystem to participate in a university programme.

Visva-Bharati’s Bhasa Bhavana — the department of languages — organised a lecture on “The Government of India’s Declaration of Classical Languages: Impact on the Language and Literature of Bengali, Marathi, Assamese, Pali, and Prakrit” in collaboration with the New Delhi-based Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation.

The students alleged that the university permitted the foundation, a known affiliate of the saffron ecosystem, to co-host the event with Bhasa Bhavana to provide the BJP with a platform to promote its agenda on campus.

“We had no issue with the lecture or its subject. We were questioning the necessity of involving that particular foundation, which promotes BJP narratives, especially since many of its members are directly associated with the BJP,” said Debojit Boot, an SFI activist and postgraduate economics student at Visva-Bharati.

“We protested because the authorities gave this organisation a space to use the campus to disseminate their narrative,” he added.

Accusations of attempts to saffronise Visva-Bharati are not new. Students have protested against various programmes organised by BJP and RSS-backed groups, as well as lectures delivered by BJP leaders on the campus.

“Being a central university, such organisations often try to exploit the campus to promote their ideas and narratives. Senior officials, including the vice-chancellors, tend to comply, fearing their influenceof higher authorities in Delhi,”a senior university teacher said.

Around 30 SFI students began their protest outside the Lipika Auditorium, the lecture venue.

A scuffle broke out between the students and private security guards as the students tried to enter the auditorium to protest.

Eventually, they managed to enter the hall and chanted slogans against the university’s alleged saffronisation efforts.Manoranjan Pradhan, the principal of Bhasa Bhavana and convenor of the lecture declined to comment on the students’ allegations of saffronisation.

“We organised the lecture with linguistics experts and plan to publish a book featuring their discussions. Initially, I couldn’t understand the reason behind students’ agitation. When I learned about their concerns, I invited them to attend the lecture, assuring them they would understand the purpose of the event once they attended it,” said Pradhan.

“The students have the right to protest, and we have the right to conduct our programme. This is not a political event,” said Anirban Ganguly, chairman and trustee of the foundation, while speaking to reporters.