Students of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) in Kolkata said on Sunday they were violently attacked after objecting to a meeting held on campus by an allegedly rightwing group, a student representative told DW.

A scuffle broke out between the students and members of the Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat (ABGP) after the student union confronted the group saying it had not been informed about the meeting and questioned the participants before the confrontation turned violent.

The students allege that members of the group attacked them with knives.

Poorvi Bondre, an editing student from Maharashtra and a member of the SRFTI student union, told DW that the event was affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and was being used to promote its agenda on campus.

She said students had opposed the meeting because it was not a film screening but what she described as direct RSS promotion.

The RSS is a right-wing Hindu organization and the ideological parent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"This was an RSS event. We were completely unaware of this event. When we asked them what this was about, the fight started," Bondre said. "They called us anti-nationals and Naxals and attacked us with knives."

Videos of the incident have circulated on social media, showing students with what appear to be knife wounds. However, DW could not independently verify their authenticity.

The campus remains tense, with students inside and members of the ABGP gathered outside, according to the student representative.