Some 50 Visva-Bharati students who have been against varsity authorities and vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty for allegedly saffronising the campus have set up a handicraft stall at the “alternative” Pous Mela in a bid to raise funds for their protest movement.

These students are selling cotton bags, ceramic cups, teapots, handmade calendars, scarves and several decorative items in styles of artwork native to Santiniketan.

“The varsity is closed so we have a lot of time on our hands. So we decided to make handmade items on a large scale and sell those in a bid to raise some money to use for the next phase of our ongoing protests," said Subha Nath, one of the students.

In September this year, these students had gheraoed the residence of the VC for days after three students who were prominent dissenting faces against saffronisation were suspended.

The trio continue to be under suspension.

Somnath Sow, one of the suspended students, was seen on Christmas manning the stall and interacting with customers. “We are openly requesting visitors to buy our products and we will use the profits to intensify our movement against the VC who not only ruined our culture by stopping the century-old fair but is also intentionally trying to saffronise the campus.”

Students have also put up a hand-written banner on the stall saying that buying the products from this stall will help them in the ongoing protest against the saffronisation of the varsity.

Students such as Ritam Kar and Swapnanil Mukherjee said they made calendars and ceramic products for sale at the stall. Dipanjan Sarkar, a student of fine arts, sat on the grounds sketching live portraits of interested visitors. They all said that response from buyers was “favourable”. “We are selling items worth Rs 8,000 a day,” one of them said.

Visva-Bharati officials said this year the fair was backed by the Bangla Sanskriti Mancha, a social organisation supported by the state government.

“We welcome students in the fair as they play an integral part in protesting the goings-on in this varsity,” said Samirul Islam, president of the Bangla Sanskriti Mancha.

The alternative Pous Mela started on December 23 and will end on December 27.