News Analysis India

Tag: JNU

  • Two groups of students clash in JNU over ‘non-veg’ food on Ram Navami

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: A major scuffle broke out between ABVP students and left students in the Jawahar Lal Nehru University over non-vegetarian food being served in the hostel mess on the occasion of Ram Navami, on Sunday, which a female student named Akshita Ansari suffered a grievous head injury. 

    Both sides accused each other of pelting stones and injuring their members. Several other students were also injured in the violence when the food preparations had started. 

    According to the All India Students Association (AISA), there have been tensions on the campus since late afternoon after students from the ABVP tried to stop non-vegetarian food from being cooked in the Kaveri hostel mess. 

    Delhi | A scuffle broke out between two groups in JNU over allegedly eating non-vegetarian foodABVP has gone on rampage in JNU as other students resisted their attempt to ban non-veg food. 50-60 people are injured, says Sarika a PhD student & former vice president of JNUSU pic.twitter.com/yED7K4OtTA
    — ANI (@ANI) April 10, 2022
    “Condemn the attempt to intentionally disrupt peaceful campus atmosphere by ABVP hoodlums. The goons continue to riot in and around Kaveri hostel, breaking bikes, and beating hostellers and students. Police have arrived at the spot but are refusing to do anything despite students’ request to intervene,” claimed the student union.

    On the other hand, the ABVP claimed that ‘Left’ students had tried to disrupt a Ram Navami pooja being conducted in the hostel in the late afternoon.

    “On the auspicious occasion of Ram Navami, residents of Kaveri Hostel, JNU had organised a pooja to celebrate the event. This event was supposed to be joined by a large number of common students of JNU. It is also noteworthy that Ramzan is being celebrated in the hostel very peacefully and simultaneously. This pooja was supposed to start at 3.30, but due to the ruckus created by leftists, it could only start at 5 pm. This pooja was joined by a large number of common students of JNU. The Leftists came to object, obstruct and prevent the pooja from happening. They have created a false ruckus on the issue of ‘Right to Food’ (Non-Vegetarian Food),” said the student union in a press release.

    Meanwhile, the DCP Southwest Manoj C said the situation is peaceful and appropriate actions will be taken if the complaint of filed. 

    “Presently the situation is peaceful, both the student parties are protesting peacefully. Appropriate action will be taken based on the complaint,” he added.

  • JNU Students’ Union, Teachers’ Association question appointment of Jagadesh Kumar as UGC head

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The students’ union and teachers’ association of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) questioned the appointment of the varsity’s Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar as UGC chairman, saying he was being ”rewarded” for “implementing the government’s agenda”.

    Moushumi Basu, secretary of JNU Teachers’ Association (JNUTA), said she was “shocked” by the decision.

    “Is there a dearth of talent that the same set of people figure in the running for top posts? Was there no other academician worthy of being appointed as UGC chairman?” Basu said.

    She also said he had not taken any measures to work on building university’s infrastructure foe digital technology, and teachers were forced to spend their own money for taking online classes.

    “How will he build the Digital University that has been proposed in the budget is anybody guess?” she said.

    JNU Students” Union president (JNUSU) Aishe Ghosh echoed Basu’s sentiments as she tweeted, “After destruction of JNU for the last 6 years, Mamidala Jagdesh Kumar is set to become the Chairman of UGC. Dismantling institutions is what Mamidala has expertise in. Exactly why the BJP govt chose him to take over the position”.

    Her Deputy, JNUSU vice-president Saket Moon claimed Kumar had been rewarded for ”implementing the government’s agenda in an autocratic way”.

    “This shows that those who implement what the government wants are given awards. He has ruined JNU,” he alleged.

    From the sedition row of 2016 and lockdown of his office multiple times to then HRD minister getting stuck for over six hours at the venue of JNU’s convocation in 2019, Kumar’s tenure as the VC has been marred by controversies.

    Kumar, who was made the VC in January 2016, had his first brush with controversy just a week after his appointment when students locked horns with the administration over holding of an event against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

    In a statement, Kumar said his immediate focus is going to be the implementation of the National Education Policy.

    “As Chairman, UGC, this is a great opportunity for me to work for the young minds of our country in Higher Educational Institutes. My immediate focus is going to be speedy implementation of National Education Policy, enabling research and innovation ecosystem in HEIs and making higher education more inclusive and accessible using technology. I look forward to working with students, teachers and heads of higher educational institutions across the country,” he said.

  • JNU circular on counseling session on sexual harassment criticized by students’ outfits

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: A circular for a counselling session by JNU on sexual harassment, which says girls are “suppose to know how to draw a tangible line between them and their male friends”, has drawn the ire of student outfits who said it reeks of victim shaming.

    The internal complaints committee (ICC) of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has uploaded the circular on the varsity’s website saying that it will organise a counselling session on sexual harassment on January 17. It also said that such sessions will be organised on a monthly basis.

    Under the subhead “why is the counselling session required”, the circular said that it will make students aware of what consists of sexual harassment.

    It also said that students are being counselled during the orientation programme and at the inception of each academic year, they need to refresh their knowledge about the same, from time to time.

    “ICC come across a number of cases where sexual harassment takes place among close friends. Boys generally cross (sometimes advertently, sometimes inadvertently) the thin line between friendship’s bantering and sexual harassment. Girls suppose to know how to draw a tangible line (between them and their male friends) to avoid any such harassments (sic),” the circular read.

    It also stated that the ICC has a zero-tolerance policy towards any kind of sexual harassment.

    “Number of cases have been dealt with successfully in this academic year. In addition to its usual course of action, ICC, JNU, would like to introduce a counselling session on a monthly basis for all aspiring students who want to know dos and don’ts in regard to sexual harassment,” read the circular.

    It said that students will get to know what is sexual harassment and its prospective repercussions in the sessions.

    Listing out the benefits of these sessions, the varsity said that “the number of sexual harassment cases will be reduced for sure”.

    “Dissipate any confusion related to sexual harassment. Anyone could get the answer of one’s queries related to sexual harassment,” said the circular.

    It said that after getting 20 such forms for registration for the session, the ICC will organise such events on a monthly basis.

    On the girls are “suppose to know how to draw a tangible line between them and their male friends” statement in the circular, Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union president Aishe Ghosh said it was a victim-shaming remark.

    “The ICC in JNU makes a blatant victim-blaming remark where it asks ‘women to draw a tangible line to not get harassed by their male members’. The ICC time and again in JNU has passed such regressive remarks or conducted itself in a way to moral police the survivor,” she said in a statement.

    “Such a remark, creates a space where harassment in such lines will become rampant and will lead to become an unsafe space for women,” Ghosh said.

    The left-affiliated All India Students’ Association (AISA) concurred with Ghosh and called the counselling session a sham.

    “The ICC of JNU has come up with a notice regarding counselling sessions for JNU students regarding sexual harassment. In one of the reasons for requiring such a session, ICC writes: ‘girls suppose to know how to draw a tangible line (between them and their male friends) to avoid any such harassments’. This exposes the attitude of victim-blaming which the ICC has been practising,” the student outfit said.

    “This counselling session is a sham and will only lead to making JNU an unsafe space for women,” it said.

    The JNU administration replaced the Gender Sensitisation Committee against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) with the ICC in September 2017 in its 269th executive council meeting, a move which was extensively criticised by student and teacher bodies, apart from women’s rights organisations Both Ghosh and AISA demanded the reinstatement of GSCASH.

  • Delhi court denies bail to JNU student Sharjeel Imam in 2019 Jamia rioting case

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Friday denied bail to JNU student Sharjeel Imam in connection with allegedly giving an inflammatory speech and inciting violence in 2019, saying that the speech was on communal lines and its content “tend to have a debilitating effect on the peace and harmony.

    “According to police, Imam allegedly delivered a provocative speech on December 13, 2019, which resulted in riots two days later when a mob consisting of over 3,000 people attacked police personnel and torched several vehicles in the Jamia Nagar area. Denying bail to him, Additional Sessions Judge Anuj Agrawal said that cursory and plain reading of the speech showed that it was clearly on communal lines.

    “The tone and tenor of the incendiary speech tend to have a debilitating effect upon public tranquility, peace, and harmony of the society,” he added.

    The judge, however, noted that the evidence in support of the allegations that the rioters got instigated by Imam’s speech and thereafter indulged in the acts of rioting, mischief, attacking the police party, was scanty and sketchy.

    Besides this case, Imam is also accused of being the “mastermind” of the February 2020 northeast Delhi riots, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.

  • Academic council recommending changes ‘contrary’ to NEP: JNU Teachers’ Association

    The Vice-Chancellor, however, said that the council which the apex body of the university is quot;more representative quot; of the entire institute and that the administration has to follow its decision.

  • JNU, TISS students recruited for terrorism, says NIA in its Bhima Koregaon chargesheet as it drops PM assassination plot

    By Express News Service

    MUMBAI:  A chargesheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against 22 people accused of inciting violence during the Bhima Koregaon event in 2018 has no mention of them either planning or having any links to a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

    The agency alleged that the accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case recruited students from well-known institutes like Delhi’s  JNU and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) for terrorist activity.

    The central agency has made the claim in its draft charges submitted before a special court here.  

    The NIA submitted the draft charges, earlier this month and a copy of the document was made available on Monday.

    The NIA chargesheet accused the 22 people of threatening India’s sovereignty, integrity and security by conspiring against government or civil authorities/public functionaries, besides including the charge of waging a war against the country, which is punishable with death.

    The agency claimed the accused were members of the banned CPI (Maoist) and its frontal organisations whose main objective is to establish Janta Sarkar (people’s government) via revolution supported by a commitment to protracted armed struggle to undermine and to seize power from the state.

    It said the accused “abetted and assisted” unlawful activities to threaten the unity of the country strike terror in the people, using explosive substances, transporting sophisticated weapons to cause death or injuries and was an attempt to do or cause the death of public functionaries.

    Students of various universities, including Delhi’s JNU as well as Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) were recruited to carry out terror activities, it added.

    The NIA names activists – Stan Swamy, who died in July, J R Jagtap, ST Gorkhe, R M Gaichor, S Dhawale, S Gadling, M Raut, S Sen, Rona Wilson, A Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao, V Gonsalves, A Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha and Hany Babu – as accused.

    The prosecution claimed the Elgar Parishad conclave was organised by people with Maoist links. The case was initially probed by the Pune police and later transferred to the NIA by the Centre.

  • Umar Khalid calls Delhi riots conspiracy case ‘cooked up’, points to contradictions

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Former JNU student leader Umar Khalid, arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the north-east Delhi riots conspiracy case, told a Delhi Court on Monday that there were various contradictions in the police’s claims and called it a “cooked up” case.

    Khalid, along with several others, has been booked under the stringent anti-terror law UAPA.

    They are accused of being the “masterminds” of the February 2020 violence, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.

    He has sought bail in the case.

    Trideep Pais, Khalid’s lawyer, told Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat that the FIR was cooked up and unnecessary, and was used selectively to target and frame them.

    The counsel pointed to two contradictions in Delhi Police’s claims.

    ​ALSO READ | Anti-CAA protests: Sharjeel Imam denies inciting violence, says cannot be hammered with sedition

    Firstly, he showed the court a 21-minute video clip of Khalid’s speech in Maharashtra, which the prosecution had allegedly labelled inflammatory.

    The lawyer, pursuant to showing the video, apprised the court that his client did not give any call for violence through the speech and in fact gave a message of unity to the people.

    “A message of unity based on Gandhi ji was given by Umar Khalid that day. It was termed as terror. Content is not seditious. He is talking about democratic power. He referred to Gandhi,” Pais added.

    Secondly, he argued that as per the police case, Khalid conspired with other accused on January 8 to cause riots during former US President Donald Trump’s visit, however, the news about his visit was announced only in February.

    ALSO READ | Both factions of Hurriyat Conference likely to be banned under UAPA

    “These are the kind of lies they are peddling. This is a joke. This FIR is a cooked-up theory. Is it that easy to prosecute people? Do you have no responsibility as a prosecution?” Pais said.

    Delhi Police had recently said that the bail plea has no merit and that it will demonstrate the prima facie case against him before the court by referring to the charge sheet filed in the case.

    In April, the former JNU student was granted bail in one of the riot cases.

    The court while granting him bail noted that he was not physically present at the scene of the crime on the date of the incident.

    Besides him, JNU students Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar, former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and several others have also been booked under the stringent law in the case.

  • JNU administration rejects teacher association’s charge of being ‘highly insensitive’

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration on Tuesday rejected the teacher association’s allegation of being “highly insensitive” towards the faculty and students, and said it had all along adopted a flexible and lenient approach to help scholars amid the pandemic.

    The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) had criticised the administration on Monday after it initiated registration process for the students admitted in 2020-21, saying that many universities in the country had either declared vacation or suspended their online classes due to the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

    “…JNU wants to stand out as the only institution to have not opted or allowed for any break between semesters for over a year and half during the Covid-19 pandemic,” JNUTA said in a statement.

    In response, the JNU issued a statement denying the “baseless allegation” and said that in view of the second wave, it had “twice postponed” the date of registration following the requests from the schools and the special centres.

    “…only after the Deans of Schools and Chairpersons of all Special Centres suggested the need for starting the registration process for these students that a decision was taken to start the registration process,” the varsity said.

    It added that administration has all along adopted “a flexible and lenient approach” to enable the students to complete their courses and examinations by delegating the decisions on teaching, examination and evaluation processes to schools and special centres.

    “The university has often extended the deadline of registration and has allowed late registration without late fine to help the students who face difficulties.

    The reported allegations thus are untrue and baseless,” it said.

  • JNU central library’s sanitation workers allege non-payment of salaries since November

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Sanitation workers of the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s central library have alleged that the varsity had not paid their salaries since last November.

    The All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) said in a statement on Tuesday that the workers had been on strike for 23 days, alleging that the JNU administration denied them equal pay and safety equipments.

    “Till June 2020 (till complete lockdown), they were paid Rs 12,900 per month (for 26 days work month), which is far below the minimum wage,” it said.

    The AICCTU alleged that the workers had been paid a meagre Rs 9,000 in the name of a month’s salary after the two weeks’ strike.

    “Those who clean the every corner of the campus are not being paid,” said Urmila Chauhan, president of the All India General Kamgar Union, a body affiliated with the AICCTU.

    “The so-called corona warriors who have to face the deadly virus without any protective equipment have to go without salaries for months,” Chauhan said.

    “This is nothing less than bonded labour.”

    The union alleged that the workers’ grievances include retrenchment and “victimisation” of the union office-bearers, non-payment of bonus, irregularities in PF contribution, and non-issuance of ID cards and salary slips.

  • Incongruity in process of ratifying appointment of new university registrar: JNUTA

    JNUTA has learnt that Prof Anirban Chakraborti was allowed to attend March 26th #39;s meeting in his capacity as the registrar only after the EC had given its approval.