Rabindra Bharati University authorities filed a police complaint on Friday after young men and women, who took part in a spring festival on the campus, posed with cuss words written on their bodies photos of which went viral on social media and raised a storm, officials said.
'Basanta Utsav' is held on the varsity's BT Road campus every year ahead of Holi.
At this year's festival, which was held on Thursday, some young men and women posed for photos with swear words written with colours on their bodies. A group of four women in sarees had a line of a famous Rabindranath Tagore song written on their bodies to which an expletive was added.
Another image showed three kurta-pyjama clad young men posing in front of four girls with a Bengali expletive meaning "care a damn" painted on their chests.
The photos went viral on social media, triggering an outrage, with many slamming the young men and women for showing "utter disrespect" to Rabindranath Tagore and Bengali culture.
The varsity authorities filed a complaint at the Sinthi police station following the social media storm.
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"We have received a written complaint from the university authorities. We are investigating the matter," a police official said.
Noted Rabindra Sangeet exponent Sraboni Sen demanded strict punishment for the people who "tarnished the name of Rabindra Bharati and played havoc with the pure and pristine spirit of the icon's songs".
"This is a very sad day. We never expected this would happen in the land of Tagore, in the university associated with research on the bard," eminent linguist Nrisingoprasad Bhaduri said.
RBU's vice-chancellor Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury termed the incident an attempt to malign the varsity "by some people who cannot be our students".
"We are trying to ascertain who was behind the act and strict action will be taken against them. We have to decide whether to regulate the entry of outsiders to our campuses during the Basanta Utsav," he said.
RBU students said none of them from the two campuses --Jorasanko and B T Road--were involved in the incident.
"It has come to our knowledge that the vulgar act was done by five students who had come from a college in Hooghly district to participate in the celebrations. We want strict action against them as they have maligned the RBU's name," Tiyasha Dey, a post-graduate student in the visual arts department, said.
State Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said those behind the incident crossed "all limits of decency".
"It is shocking that someone would think about committing such an act in a cultural festival at a place associated with the name of Tagore. This is also against the heritage of Bengal," he told reporters.