Bengal governor to meet chief minister over campus clashes

KOLKATA - West Bengal Governor M.K. Narayanan Saturday said he will meet Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and discuss the growing incidents of students’ clashes to end the campus violence in the state.

“The ongoing violence between the students’ unions in educational institutions is a cause of concern. As law and order is the state subject, I will meet with the chief minister in this regard,” Narayanan said on the sidelines of a programme here.

He was attending a conference on Industry-Defence Linkage 2010, organised by Confederation of India Industry (CII).

Asked if he was contemplating to call an all-party meet to end the political violence, Narayanan said: “It is not yet decided if there is a need for an all-party meet or there is need to talk to the parties individually.”

Earlier, the governor appealed to the students to abjure violence and keep education as their foremost priority.

In press statement, Narayanan Friday said: “I am greatly worried and deeply grieved at the growing incidence of campus violence across the state. Campus violence in the state leading to serious injuries and even fatalities, apart from being a human tragedy of monumental proportions, is adversely affecting the state’s image, which has a well-deserved reputation for excellence in the pursuit of knowledge.”

One person was killed and 10 people were injured Thursday in two clashes in the state between the supporters of Trinamool Congress Chatra Parishad (TMCP), the students’ arm of Trinamool Congress, and the Student Federation of India (SFI), the students’ wing of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).