Besu students return to campus on Monday. Picture by Gopal Senapati

Around 400 boys of the Bengal Engineering and Science University (Besu), which was closed indefinitely on November 6 following student clashes, returned to the Shibpur campus on Monday.

The first and second year students, accompanied by parents, entered their hostels after signing an undertaking promising to abide by the code of conduct the authorities had recently laid down. The parents had to sign the undertaking as witnesses.

The hostels for third and fourth year boys are still closed.

Before the junior students were allowed into the hostels, Besu officials and the parents inspected each and every room to ensure there were no hockey sticks, cricket bats, bricks or any other object that could be used in clashes. The code of conduct, reported in Metro on November 14, prevents the students from keeping such items in hostels.

The code also bans swimming in the campus ponds or in the Hooghly, loitering on the river banks and playing truant. A violation of the code could result in expulsion from the campus.

“There was an overwhelming response from the students and parents in signing the undertaking. Around 80 per cent of the students agreed to abide by the code and promised to stay away from violence,” said registrar Biman Bandyopadhyay.

The other students informed the authorities that they would return to campus on Tuesday.

Academic activities will resume from Tuesday. “The authorities will monitor the situation this week before deciding to reopen the hostels for third and fourth year boys,” the registrar said.

Some parents were unhappy with the authorities for “forcing” them to sign the undertaking. “The university is making us responsible for maintaining the peace on campus. It’s the authorities’ responsibility to ensure that academic activities are not disrupted,” said the mother of a second-year student.