Babul Supriyo Won't File FIR in Jadavpur University Heckling Incident. Supporters Laud His Reason

Union Minister Babul Supriyo, who was heckled by students at Jadavpur University in Kolkata, assured that he would not take action against a student from the protest so as to not distress his mother, who is suffering from cancer.

Supriyo was seen being manhandled in a video from the protest in which a particular student pulls him by his hair. He had earlier called the protesting students “cowards” and “hooligans”, adding that they should be “mentally rehabilitated”.

However, in a tweet on Saturday, the Union Minister of State for Environment seemed to be addressing the mother of the student in question and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t do any harm to your son.”

He further said that he wanted the student to learn from his mistake. He had not filed an FIR against anyone, and asserted that he would not let anyone do that either. “Don’t worry. Recover soon, Aunt!” he said further, sending the woman his greetings.

Several followers lauded the minister's decision in comments to his tweet. One said, "Salute you sir. You have won millions of hearts", while another commended his humanity and honesty saying, "Thanks you @SuPriyoBabul Sri best humanity & honest person." Several others also showered him with love and support.

On Friday, Supriyo had tweeted that he would not treat the protesting students in the manner that they had treated him, but instead suggested rehabilitating them.

Zeroing in on the picture of the student manhandling him, the minister in another tweet wondered what action would the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government take against the student for assaulting him without any provocation.

Left-affiliated students present at the protest told News18 that the demonstration had agitated Supriyo who allegedly made sexist remarks in Bengali against female students who had gathered there.

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who reached the varsity to meet the higher authorities and to rescue Supriyo, also faced resistance from students who refused to allow the minister to leave the campus.