The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) called for a “ Jawab Do Protest” at the administration block of the university on Tuesday to take a stand against the “JNU Vice-Chancellor’s partisan role and violation of all institutional responsibilities towards [missing student] Najeeb”.
At the protest, the JNUSU announced that it had decided to stage an indefinite sit-in at the administration block after the university sent union president Mohit Pandey a letter advising the JNUSU not to hold any kind of public meetings or demonstration/dharna at the venue.
“Scuttling of protest space”
“Today [on Tuesday], after getting no reply from the administration, the JNUSU has decided to go for an indefinite sit-in at the admin block against scuttling of protest space and scuttling justice in Najeeb’s case,” Mr. Pandey said.
In reply to the letter from the administration, he wrote that protest at the admin block has been a tradition at the university and that there has never been such suppression of dissenting voices on campus.
At loggerheads
Mr. Pandey advised the administration to focus on the issue they have been protesting against.
The JNUSU has been at loggerheads with the administration since Najeeb Ahmed, a student of M.Sc Biotechnology went missing nearly 45 days ago.
Show cause notices to 20 students
They had earlier organised a protest outside the administration block, confining the V-C to his office overnight, demanding action against the students who beat up Najeeb the night before his disappearance.
The university had earlier this week sent show cause notices to 20 students who had participated in the blockade. The JNUSU has been demanding that the inquiry into the incident be made public.
The JNUSU said the administration has started a witch-hunt against students demanding justice for Najeeb and holding the administration responsible.
“The JNU administration did not think this case was important for them and hence, did not send anybody to reply in the court as well. Now there is a permanent ban on protests near the admin block and the JNU administration is telling students and the JNUSU to protest outside the open theatre,” the union said in a statement.
