On Saturday (11th July), BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari highlighted how a West Bengal-based public university has been referring to Indian freedom fighters as ‘terrorists’ (সন্ত্রাসবাদী) and ‘militants’.
He pointed out that the Vidyasagar University in Midnapore had insulted Indian freedom fighters in the History Honours (Sixth Semester) question paper for the year 2025.
Adhikari revealed that it was not a mere oversight but a ‘deliberate’ repetition of the same error, which was first flagged in 2023.
OpIndia checked the images of the 2023 and 2025 question papers and found that freedom fighters were indeed dubbed’ terrorists’ and ‘militant nationalists.’
Suvendu Adhikari pointed out that the error first occurred in 2023 during the reign of Dr. Nirmal Kumar Mahato, TMC leader who served as Head of the History Department. Mahato has since then been promoted to the position of Joint Secretary of WBCUPA.
The freedom fighters who were dubbed terrorists by the West Bengal university include
- Bimal Dasgupta and Jyotijiban Ghosh (who assassinated British district magistrate Peddie)
- Prabhanshusekhar Pal and Pradyotkumar Bhattacharya (who assassinated British district magistrate Douglas)
- Anathbandhu Panja, Mrigendranath Datta, Ramkrishna Roy, Nirmaljiban Ghosh and Brajakishore Chakraborty (who assassinated British district magistrate Burge)
“I demand immediate accountability, the removal of Dr. Mahato, and a thorough investigation into this institutional failure. Will TMC clarify if they stand by this shameful narrative?” Suvendu Ahikari concluded.
