“We are all more worried than we were in February, as Jawaharlal Nehru University [JNU] is facing an attack — not from outside this time but from within — on the foundation of the university,” said Jayati Ghosh, a professor with the School of Social Science and a JNU alumni.
Prof. Ghosh, along with several other professors and members of the Academic Council (AC), was addressing a public meeting in solidarity with the 12 students suspended for raising slogans after the AC meet of the university concluded on December 26.
Rules on peaceful protest
While the meeting was being conducted, the Registrar sent a notice to all the professors speaking at Freedom Square, requesting them not to violate university rules that prohibits any form of peaceful and democratic protest within 20 metres of the administrative and academic complexes.
The notice said they would attract disciplinary action if they went ahead with the meeting. The teachers had earlier called the AC meeting “undemocratic”.
Stating they do not consider that the meeting had happened, the teachers want it to be held again after teachers and students are back from Christmas break.
“Our space”
Reacting to the notice on ban on public meetings, Nivedita Menon, a professor with the School of International Studies, said: “It is our space and we will not hand it over to the RSS. The space belongs to the taxpayers of the country.”
On the issue of passing of UGC notification despite opposition by AC members to increase the importance of viva in the entrance examination, she said UGC norms were not mandatory and that many UGC norms had not been accepted in JNU.
“Cooked up minutes”
“The V-C is treating the AC as his personal fiefdom and is violating every procedure of conduct possible, including passing cooked up minutes.”
United stand
Other professors including Vikas Rawal, Lata Singh, Ajith Karna, Bishnupriya Dutt, Franson Manjali and Soumyabrata Choudhury called for a united stand by putting away small differences so that the future of the university and democratic principles that it was founded with are not jeopardised.
They felt if the minutes of the last AC meeting are passed, real damage will be done to not just JNU but other universities that look up to JNU for support and guidance.
AC meeting during break
They pointed out how the AC meeting was called at a time when most people were away during Christmas break and issues were passed without discussion by the V-C.
They also pointed how swiftly the administration suspended the protesting students without any enquiry.
Prof. Rawal pointed out that the battles that started in February continued throughout the year. He said it showed there were serious problems in the way the university was being governed at the top. He called for a large-scale mobilisation to end it.
Fascist strategy
Prof. Dutt also called for a united fight against the “dictatorial, undemocratic and fascist strategy” of the administration to stop all debate and discussion at the university.
Prof. Manjali said the past year had seen an attempt to crush democratic values of the university and undo what was established with a vision to create a public space for learning where students, teachers and intellectuals from across India would come with their own ideas and constitute a democratic university.
