After 3 campus rapes, Mamata can’t afford to ignore ticking time bomb TMCP

Three cases of sexual assault at three premier institutions in Kolkata within a year reek of a serious decay in the state’s campus culture, a systematic rot that should ring alarm bells within the Trinamool Congress.

A second-year student of the Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta was remanded in seven-day police custody by a court on Saturday (July 12) on charges of raping a woman in the institution’s boys’ hostel.

The latest crime on a campus came to the fore amid growing outrage over the gang rape of a student at South Calcutta Law College on June 25.

Also read: RG Kar, law college, Sandeshkhali: Bengal’s chilling nexus of crime and politics

Public outcry no deterrent

Last year, the state witnessed a series of street protests after a trainee doctor was raped and killed while on duty at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

Clearly, public outcry has failed as a deterrent against a culture of intimidation and crime prevailing in many of the state’s higher educational institutions.

In two of the above-mentioned sexual assault cases in Kolkata — barring the IIM incident — accusing fingers were directly pointed at the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP), the student wing of the state’s ruling party.

These were not isolated cases. From gang rape allegations to ragging scandals, revenge porn, and physical intimidation of college staff, the TMCP’s alleged involvement in campus crimes has become a recurring talking point in sociopolitical discourses, a narrative the TMC can no longer afford to ignore.

Also read: IIM-Calcutta ‘rape': Police constitute 9-member SIT for probe

Same toxic pattern

The TMCP was originally designed as a counterforce to Left-aligned student unions. But over time, it has developed into a parallel power structure on many campuses.

Allegations of the TMCP’s involvement in the gang rape of a 24-year-old law student in a South Kolkata college followed the unmistakable pattern—political patronage, patriarchy, and poor oversight.

The accused, including Monojit Mishra, were reportedly former TMCP functionaries, wielding unchecked authority inside the college long after their graduation.

Similar trends have emerged from across the state where TMCP or former TMCP leaders are said to have continued influencing campus dynamics and beyond.

Also read: IIM Calcutta student raped in boys' hostel; accused arrested

Misuse of campuses

A TMCP leader from Birbhum, Bikramjit Sau, was suspended for six years by the party recently after extortion allegations and a video targeting a police officer surfaced.

Another video of a 44-year-old Trinamool Congress functionary, Prateek Kumar Dey, went viral on July 9 where he was seen letting a young woman massage his head inside the students’ union room of the Sonarpur College in South 24-Parganas district.

Taking note of the misuse of campus space, the Calcutta High Court recently ordered the closure of the union rooms of various colleges.

But there is no end to the allegations of “dadagiri” (highhandedness) of the ruling party’s student leaders in colleges.

Terror run

A Trinamool student leader was seen sexually harassing his juniors in a video allegedly recorded at Narasinha Dutt College in Howrah.

TMCP state vice-president Souvik Roy was show-caused by the party earlier this month after the video of his alleged atrocities became viral.

A block president of the TMCP, Biman Jha, was recently accused of misbehaving with the principal of Harishchandrapur College in Malda after an invigilator prevented an undergraduate semester examinee from “cheating” during examination.

Jha, an alumnus of the college, reportedly intimidated Sumit Nandi, the principal. Nandi told media persons that he was worried about his security after the incident.

Also read: RG Kar victim was under acute mental stress, sought help month before death: Psychiatrist

A political syndicate

There are many more such allegations against the TMC students’ wing.

The TMCP has become less of a student organisation and more of a political syndicate, alleged critics such as former state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

“Educational institutions in Bengal have turned into platforms for enhancing (political) influence of criminal elements and rapists,” Chowdhury alleged.

Dissent within

Dissent is growing even within the TMC’s student circles. Former TMCP leader Rajanya Halder, suspended last year after a controversial short film over the RG Kar issue, lodged police complaints accusing party-linked students of circulating AI-generated semi-nude images of her as a form of revenge and blackmail.

She says women in the student wing are routinely harassed or pushed out unless they conform to patriarchal expectations.

“There are many Monojit Mishras in the TMCP,” she warned, indicating that the problem is systemic, not individual.

Also read: Law student gangraped in Kolkata; 3 arrested, remanded in 4-day custody

No elections

This system flourishes particularly in the absence of student union elections, which have been suspended in most colleges for over a decade.

Without a democratic check, unelected and often non-student leaders take control, answerable not to students but to political handlers.

And as institutions turn a blind eye or are themselves intimidated, these actors effectively take over entry gates, union rooms, and even the principal’s office.

No deterrent

“Even during the Left Front regime, student wings of the ruling parties used to wield power on the campus. But the periodic student union elections would tend to act as a deterrent,” said social activist and professor Saswati Ghosh.

She, however, was quick to add that the present crisis is not merely a TMCP-specific issue and has now spilled beyond student politics as has been evident from the IIM incident.

A sadistic patriarchy is also at play here. “Many youths tend to flaunt their sexual exploits as machismo. They tend to think it as a trophy to have obscene clips of their exploits in their mobile phones,” Ghosh added.

Also read: Kolkata rape case: BJP, Left workers scuffle outside college over 'fact-checking' team visit

Few security checks

Security loopholes—unguarded entry points, lack of surveillance after class hours, and political interference in staff appointments—are also exposed by the spate of campus crimes.

In the case of South Calcutta Law College, the gates were reportedly open till late into the evening, with guards allegedly colluding with the perpetrators.

Mandatory CCTV coverage, biometric access, women-only help desks, and 24/7 emergency support are absent in most of the institutions.

Also read: Kolkata gang-rape accused drank in guard room for hours after crime: Cops

Onus on state

The state’s ruling dispensation cannot absolve its responsibilities for the security lapses either.

So far, it has walked a tightrope. On the one hand, it has condemned the crimes and promised action. On the other, it has not initiated any sweeping reform of the TMCP nor stopped political protectionism. The party-led government has also not taken steps to reinstate student elections or bolster campus security.

But this half-measure strategy is backfiring. Urban middle-class voters, once key to the party’s support base, are now watching in dismay as Bengal’s campuses become warzones of power politics and gender violence.

Hashtags like “#CampusShame” and “#TMCPTerror” are gaining traction, and survivors’ voices are getting louder. With the Assembly elections due next year, Mamata Banerjee can ill afford to ignore this ticking political time bomb.