Massive protests were organized in cities and towns across the Indian state of West Bengal on Wednesday, August 26 protesting against the rising right-wing attacks on the educational institutions and activists.

This was the third such protest action taken since the August 20 midnight attack on the university by the ultra right-wing and Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-affiliated student organization Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

Several students and teachers were injured in the attack and university property was vandalized. Students have lodged accusations that the security forces were unresponsive, while elected members of the state legislative assembly from the ruling BJP were directly involved.

ABVP-BJP-RSS goons arrived on bikes at midnight and unleashed violence inside Jadavpur University campus, attacking students with weapons, vandalising union rooms, throwing stones and bricks and setting fire to students’ belongings. pic.twitter.com/C7193wb1rW

— CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) August 19, 2026

In the recent protests, activists expressed their solidarity with the students of Jadavpur University and demanded that all those involved in the attack be held accountable.

The protesters also demanded action against the forces involved in acts of vandalism against progressive and left symbols in the state. A wave of attacks have swept the state since the BJP came into power in the state earlier this year.

Protests were called by various left parties and student organizations in the state including the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), All India Students’ Federation (AISF), All India Students’ Association (AISA) among others.

The left and progressive student groups had led a massive march from the JU campus to the city on August 22, a day after the attack. They carried out a much bigger protest march on August 24 as well.

The Left is the target

The BJP-RSS-ABVP and similar right wing groups now backed by the ruling dispensation in the state have alleged that JU and other prominent universities have become a den of “anti-national” activities and demand the removal of progressive and left teaching staff and ban on the activities of the left leaning student unions.

Before storming the university campus on August 20 they had carried out several attempts to demolish a statue of Lenin just outside the campus and vandalized several other statues in different parts of the state.

Reports also indicate that several left and progressive activists have been killed and injured in targeted attacks.

The attacks on the universities and the left activists in West Bengal is similar to the attacks carried out by the same forces in the rest of the country.

Universities such as Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Jamia Milia Islamia (JMI), both in the capital New Delhi, have been repeatedly targeted by the right-wing assailants in the past decade for their vocal opposition to sectarian and pro-capital policies of the BJP. In addition to physical injuries, some activists have also faced charges.

The mainstream media in India, as in the past incidents, called the attacks at JU a “clash between ABVP and SFI.”

BJP leader and chief minister of the state Suvendu Adhikari, instead of condemning the attack and taking action against the assailants, ordered an “investigation” into “anti-national activities” on the campuses.

Commenting on the attacks on JU, Vijay Prashad, historian and director of the Tricontinental Institute of Social Research compared it with the attacks on JNU calling it a fight “that will not find an easy solution.” He wrote on his social media page that the real motive of the right wing behind these repeated attacks is to destroy the left in the country.

Suchetna Chattopadhyay who teaches history at JU called the attack an example of “textbook neoliberal fascism of our times.” She alleged that the attack on August 20 was a part of the larger and more systematic attacks on the left, an attempt to instill fear so that all kinds of opposition to its policies designed to serve the interest of big capital is silenced.

From BT News via This RSS Feed.