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Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
How campus violence has marred ‘Oxford of the East' Patna University
For the last few days, the 19-year-old student of Patna's BN College has been both scared and furious. It's been two weeks since two crude bombs hurled on the campus killed a fellow student and sparked massive protests, and the student is now worried about his own safety. 'Studying at Patna University was once a dream of many. Now, it's a nightmare,' the student says. The incident that has shaken the 19-year-old and many of his fellow students occurred on May 13, fatally wounding Sujeet Kumar Pandey, a second-year history honours student. According to the police, the bombs, hurled at 12:45 pm, was a result of a student rivalry and led to the detention of two people. The bombing has once again brought into focus the turbulent – and often violent – nature of Patna University's student politics. Once referred to as 'Oxford of the East', Patna University has seen at least five incidents of campus violence in the last two years – three of these in the last three months alone. 'Good, genuine students still avoid the hostels and find accommodation outside campuses due to this atmosphere,' one police officer says. 'Every now and then, we find sticks, rods, hockey sticks, and even firearms and materials for making crude bombs during raids at the college hostels.' The incidents led Bihar Governor Arif Mohammed Khan — the Chancellor of Patna University – to make scathing remarks on the need for discipline on campus. In a speech made during a visit to the campus, Khan made particular mention of 'outsiders illegally occupying hostel rooms' as a key factor in the university's 'antisocial' environment. Both students and professors The Indian Express spoke to appear to endorse this. 'Various political parties have been misusing university students – some of whom no longer study here – as pawns for their own political gains, even using them for criminal purposes. There's a nexus involving these antisocial elements and political leaders,' N.K. Chaudhary, a retired professor and a former principal of Patna College, tells The Indian Express. Calls and text messages to Patna University Vice-Chancellor Ajay Kumar Singh, Registrar Shalini and Dean of Student Welfare Anil Kumar went unanswered. 'Antisocial elements' Founded in 1917, Patna University is India's seventh oldest and Bihar's first university that counts several of Bihar's most prominent leaders – from chief ministers such as S.K. Sinha, Lalu Prasad Yadav and the incumbent Nitish Kumar to diplomats such as former foreign secretary Muchkund Dubey and former Chief Justice of India Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha — among its alumni. Since the first student election at the university in 1959, the Patna University's student body, the Patna University Student Union (PUSU), has been known as a vibrant forum for debate. But it was the 1970s – right around the time of the Bihar movement, also known as the JP Movement – that marked its true coming of age. Led by the veteran Gandhian socialist Jayaprakash Narayan, the student movement in 1974 was aimed at protesting corruption and misrule in the state of Bihar, although it eventually spread to the central government under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as well. At Patna University, where the protests first began, Lalu Prasad Yadav, then president of the PUSU, was one of those driving the movement, along with Sushil Modi, who would later become deputy chief minister of Bihar, and Ravi Shankar Prasad, who would eventually go on to become a Union minister. 'Politics has always been at the core of Patna University,' a college professor tells The Indian Express. But by the 1980s, the general mood of the campus had changed, with escalating caste conflicts and student clashes prompting the university's authorities from banning PUSU elections. This ban was lifted only in 2012, when the All India Students' Federation (AISF), the students' wing of the Communist Party of India won two of five key posts in the student body. The absence of elections, however, didn't stop political tensions from rising in the university — according to former professors and officials, caste lines began to be drawn here, allowing 'criminal elements to entrench themselves on campus and use college hostels for antisocial activities'. 'During that time, many non-students and antisocial elements backed by politicians made university hostels their safe houses,' one former professor claims. These problems persisted even after student elections resumed in 2012 – according to students and former professors, political patronage began to turn the PUSU elections into proxy battles for political parties, who viewed the campus as a training ground for future leaders. This eventually took the form of student clashes, violence and even bombings. For instance, in 2013, a mob of students barged into the Dalit Bhimrao Ambedkar Welfare Hostel armed with hockey sticks, bricks, stones, firearms and crude bombs, and assaulted residents. Three Dalits were injured in these clashes. These tensions came to a head in May last year, when a 22-year-old student of BN College was beaten to death at the Patna Law College. The incident, allegedly over the student union election, led to then Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar ordering the closure of all university hostels. This year too has seen at least three instances of campus bombings – including the incident on May 13. On March 5, days before the Patna University Students' Union (PUSU) elections, a bomb that went off near the university's Darbhanga House allegedly damaged a professor's car. Then on April 26 – just after the university announced it was reopening its hostels to students – four crude bombs exploded near Cavendish and Minto hostels after a clash between students. Police detained 13 students over this incident and allegedly found bomb-making materials in a room in Minto. Violence marred this year's PUSU polls too, leaving a journalist and a student wounded. According to students and professors, political parties 'openly' support student groups in defiance of the Lyngdoh Committee guidelines, which recommends against external interference in student body elections. The guidelines, submitted by a panel under former Chief Election Commissioner JM Lyngdoh in 2006, state that no person who is not a student on the rolls of the college or university 'shall be permitted to take part in the election process in any capacity'. Caste equations – always a permanent fixture in Bihar's social fabric – further fuel these student rivalries, which take the shape of hostel turf wars, as authorities struggle to enforce rules out of fear of retaliation from 'antisocial elements and politically connected groups', students and former professors allege. 'Different hostels are dominated by specific caste groups, and if a student is assigned a room in a hostel that does not align with their caste, they are often not permitted to stay,' Hritik Raushan, one of the presidential candidates for this year's PUSU elections, says, adding that these hostels have been left 'orphaned by the PU administration'. Former IPS officer Shivdeep Wamanrao Lande, who has previously served as Patna city's superintendent of Police, says hostel administrators 'are often too afraid to confront or to deal with these groups'. 'When I first joined, there were reports of clashes among boarders… Use of crude bombs was frequent even in the past at Patna University. Some hostel residents had as many as 20-25 criminal cases against them,' he says. For students, all of this means fear of returning to the campus. 'We have to think twice before seeking admissions here),' one student at BN College says, while another adds that he has chosen not to live on campus because 'it's unsafe'.
Time of India
17-05-2025
- Time of India
B N College bomb blast: Main accused, another student held
Patna: Two youths, including the main accused in the bomb blast incident on B N College campus in Patna, which took the life of a student, were arrested from Gaya district on Saturday morning. The main accused was identified as Deepak Kumar from Sanda village in Gaya and a former student of the College of Commerce, Arts and Sciences, Patna. Confirming the arrest, Patna Town DSP Diksha told this reporter that Deepak, who hurled the 'sutli' bomb on B N College campus on May 13 during the exams, was arrested from his native Sanda village on Saturday. "The other arrested accused, identified as Shubhankar, is a second-year BA English (Hons) student of B N College. He was arrested from Jehanabad district on Saturday morning," she said. The DSP said the police are conducting raids to arrest the other four to five students accused in this case. "We are also identifying the people who supplied the bomb or explosive items to the accused," Diksha said. On May 13, a dispute broke out between two groups of students at B N College while the students were taking the CIA (Certified Internal Auditor) exam. After a heated argument and fight, the accused Deepak allegedly hurled two bombs, which created chaos in the college. He was also seen in the viral video of the incident. One bomb fell on the head of a student Sujit Kumar Pandey , a resident of Rohtas district. The incident occurred as soon as he came out of the exam hall. He suffered serious injuries and he died later during treatment. Sujit was a history student at BN College. The police are also raiding the hostels of PU to arrest the other accused involved in the clash. In this sequence, two former students were arrested from B N College hostels on Friday evening. They were identified as Chandan Kumar and Madhu, both residents of Jehanabad. Patna: Two youths, including the main accused in the bomb blast incident on B N College campus in Patna, which took the life of a student, were arrested from Gaya district on Saturday morning. The main accused was identified as Deepak Kumar from Sanda village in Gaya and a former student of the College of Commerce, Arts and Sciences, Patna. Confirming the arrest, Patna Town DSP Diksha told this reporter that Deepak, who hurled the 'sutli' bomb on B N College campus on May 13 during the exams, was arrested from his native Sanda village on Saturday. "The other arrested accused, identified as Shubhankar, is a second-year BA English (Hons) student of B N College. He was arrested from Jehanabad district on Saturday morning," she said. The DSP said the police are conducting raids to arrest the other four to five students accused in this case. "We are also identifying the people who supplied the bomb or explosive items to the accused," Diksha said. On May 13, a dispute broke out between two groups of students at B N College while the students were taking the CIA (Certified Internal Auditor) exam. After a heated argument and fight, the accused Deepak allegedly hurled two bombs, which created chaos in the college. He was also seen in the viral video of the incident. One bomb fell on the head of a student Sujit Kumar Pandey, a resident of Rohtas district. The incident occurred as soon as he came out of the exam hall. He suffered serious injuries and he died later during treatment. Sujit was a history student at BN College. The police are also raiding the hostels of PU to arrest the other accused involved in the clash. In this sequence, two former students were arrested from B N College hostels on Friday evening. They were identified as Chandan Kumar and Madhu, both residents of Jehanabad.
Time of India
15-05-2025
- Time of India
B N College student succumbs to blast injuries, protest erupts in city
Patna: student , who was injured in bomb blasts on the campus on Tuesday, succumbed to his severe head injuries in his native Rohtas district on Thursday, triggering a protest by his fellow students back in Patna. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Enraged students blocked Ashok Rajpath, where B N College is located in Patna, in protest, demanding strict action against the accused. Police, however, are yet to trace the accused. One of the protesters, Ajay Kumar, said this incident has made it clear that the growing factionalism and violence among students on the college campuses can have serious consequences, "endangering our safety as well as affecting the academic environment". Another student, Kushal, alleged that the college administration is equally responsible for Pandey's death. "Had they taken an action when a fight broke out on Monday itself, such an incident would not have happened," he said. After the incident, however, security was tightened on the college campus, when police started an investigation into the matter. The college administration is also investigating the reasons behind this violence separately. On Tuesday around 12.45pm, two groups clashed over some issue and hurled two bombs on the college campus, as students appeared for Certified Internal Auditor exam. After submitting his papers, Pandey was waiting for his friend in the veranda of the college, when he was hit by a bomb, which bounced back from a wall and the gate grill. He was first taken to nearby Patna Medical College and Hospital, where college principal Rajkishore Prasad met his family and offered financial help, which however, they denied. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The family later admitted him to a private hospital in Kankarbagh, where he was put on ventilator support, and on Wednesday, the doctors declared him brain dead. Following this, his family took him to Rohtas, where he died on Thursday morning.
Time of India
14-05-2025
- Time of India
B N College student still unconscious, no trace of bomb blast accused
Patna: The B N College student, , who was injured in a bomb blast on the campus in Patna on Tuesday afternoon, remained unconscious even on Wednesday, with the police yet to trace the accused. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Expressing dissatisfaction with the institution's management, his family, which took him to their native place in Rohtas district, has declined financial help from the college principal, who had visited Patna Medical College and Hospital, where the victim was initially being father Dharmendra Kumar, a farmer, is managing the treatment expenses through borrowed funds from relatives. A family member, Sanjit Pandey, said that Sujit is the only living son of Dharmendra who has already lost a child. Sujit stayed in Patna with his cousin in Dariyapur for his higher studies. One of his friends said that after the exam, Sujit was going to watch a movie with his incident took place around 12.45pm on the college campus when two groups clashed over some issue and hurled two bombs, as students appeared for Certified Internal Auditor exam. After giving the exam, he came out of the hall and was waiting for his friend in the veranda, when he was hit by the bomb, after bouncing back from a wall and the college gate's Haleem, the SHO of the local Pirbahore police station, told this newspaper that a case was registered on the statement of principal Rajkishore Prasad against unidentified miscreants. "No arrests have been made yet. We are identifying the accused involved in the fight," he the injured student, the SHO said his condition is critical. "He did not regain consciousness after the attack. He is on a ventilator," Haleem said.
Time of India
13-05-2025
- Time of India
Student injured in bomb explosions, clashes at B N College
Patna: A violent altercation between two student groups at B N College in Patna escalated into chaos on Tuesday afternoon when crude bombs were hurled on campus, disrupting examinations and leaving a student severely injured. The injured student, identified as Sujit Pandey, son of Dharmendra Pandey from Bhaluni Dham village in Rohtas district, was rushed to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) for incident took place around 12.45pm, while students were appearing for their Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) examination. According to eyewitnesses, a sudden explosion rocked the corridor of the examination block, sending students into a panic. Within minutes, a second bomb was hurled—this time reportedly striking a student after hitting the wall and the iron grill near the college gate."People were writing their papers when a loud blast rang through the corridor. The atmosphere turned chaotic, with students running in different directions. Just as we were being evacuated, another explosion occurred, hitting a student on the head," an eyewitness after the blasts, students blocked the busy Ashok Rajpath road, raising slogans against the college administration. The protestors alleged administrative apathy, claiming repeated inaction against violent and disruptive elements on campus. The police later pacified the students and cleared the road. Pirbahore police, led by SHO Abdul Haleem, reached the college and launched an investigation. "Two crude bombs exploded during the exam. A forensic team has been called to collect samples, and CCTV footage from the campus is being scrutinised to identify those involved," the SHO said. He further added that no arrests have been made as investigation suggests the violence was rooted in a previous confrontation between hostel residents of the college. "This appears to be a continuation of a dispute between two student groups. A few days ago, a similar altercation had been pacified by police's intervention. Unfortunately, the situation escalated today due to the failure of the college administration to monitor student activities and prevent dangerous materials from being brought onto campus," the SHO principal Rajkishore Prasad expressed concern over the repeated disturbances on the campus. "The blasts occurred at 12.45pm and 12.48pm. A student was injured. It is troubling that some students entered the examination hall without valid ID cards. Strict disciplinary action will be taken against those found involved," he said.
