Saswati’s hostel roommate Poushali (in yellow dress, at the centre) being consoled by friends during the registrar’s interaction with students. The governor (below, right) on the Sangit Bhavan campus. Pictures by Indrajit Roy

Santiniketan, Jan. 7: Visva-Bharati girls virtually shouted down registrar Samit Roy today when he told a condolence meeting Saswati Pal’s murder could have been prevented had the university known beforehand that it was about to happen.

“If only we knew about the possibility an hour in advance,” Roy said and a Sangit Bhavan student responded with: “Sir, if we knew it an hour earlier, we would have waited for the attacker with revolvers in our hand.”

The response left Roy fumbling in his speech but he continued with it. “The attack was so fierce that I feel it was beyond Visva-Bharati’s abilities to thwart it.... The students will have to be careful.”

At this, a fifth-year Kala Bhavan girl said: “You are asking us to be careful? How safe are we? How safe is Visva-Bharati? I’m studying in this university for nearly five years and have informed the authorities a number of times about our lack of security. But no step has been taken.”

Amid a roar of support for the voice of protest, Roy stood speechless, the microphone in hand.

Many more students stood up one by one and hauled up the university for its complete lack of security, exposed by Saswati’s death yesterday.

“We don’t have generators at the hostel. Fused bulbs are not replaced in our bathrooms. We feel so scared that we cannot keep our windows open even during summer,” said a girl.

A resident of Ananda Sadan, where Saswati was shot dead, said: “Our hostel doesn’t even have a warden.”

Unable to cope with the onslaught, Roy handed over the microphone to a teacher and walked away.

“Where are you going sir, leaving us behind?” the students asked in a chorus in front of Kaach Mandir, where they had assembled after a silent procession across the campus.

The girls also voiced their sense of insecurity before governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the university’s rector, who arrived here this afternoon.

The governor, who walked barefoot on the campus, reached Sangit Bhavan around 3pm, when the students were waiting for Saswati’s body to come.

Gandhi sat on the floor and the students sang three Tagore songs for him. There were tears in his eyes as he heard Jibono jokhono shukaye jaye.

“I have come to share your feelings,” he said.

Sangit Bhavan principal Ashok Ganguly narrated yesterday’s incident to the governor. After that, Gandhi held an interactive session with the students.

“The campus doesn’t have streetlights everywhere and it is scary to walk in the evenings,” a student said.

“We have complained in writing on several occasions but in vain,” said Aishwarya Chowdhury, a fifth-year Kala Bhavan student.

The governor asked the students to send their complaints to him.

Saswati’s father Shyamal Pal came to the university with his daughter’s body.

“You are all like my daughter. Be successful in life and don’t get lost like her. I had sent her to Santiniketan with a dream,” Shyamal told the students, struggling to hold back his tears.

Home secretary Prasad Ranjan Ray said at Writers’ Buildings that the government had spoken to the Visva-Bharati authorities and sought a report from the district police chief. “There were security lapses on the campus,” he said. “The girls’ hostel should have been adequately protected.”