Nostalgia runs high for locked union rooms
From the late fifties to the mid-sixties, the CU union room was the centre of significant movements, including the food movement. It also played a key role alongside the union room of Presidency College during the Naxalite movement. Under the leadership of Naxalite leader Asim Chatterjee, at least 26 students resided in the Presidency College union room.
Sibaji Pratim Basu, former Vidyasagar University VC and a Presi alumnus, said: "Presidency became a seat of activities during the Naxalite Movement.
Presidency Consolidation was formed with students from Presidency and other colleges. I heard from Ranabir Samaddar that they worked with bakery workers of Kelabagan for their rights."
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He added, "During my time, union rooms were our homes. I had the key to the union room and used to go there even on Sundays. It was the time of 'Bandi Mukti Andolan'. We wrote posters and interacted with each other."
Kunal Chattopadhyay, a former professor and a JU alumnus, said, "I was a student from 1976 to 1981.
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The union rooms were spaces where students and elected representatives regularly convened. This space was alive and democratic because union elections were held every year."
Rajyeswar Sinha, a JU Bengali department professor, said that during his university days from 1995 to 2000, the union room housed a library and was a venue for exchanging ideas. "I remember reading numerous newspapers and magazines in the union room. It was a place for listening to different music, writing lyrics, and debating about Kabir Suman songs."
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