Pursuing her Masters in International Relations from JNU, Aishwarya Adhikari was one of the eight students who were academically debarred by the high-level inquiry committee that looked into the February 9 event on the campus.
Ms. Adhikari was left “shattered” and “angry” over her suspension after it came to light that she was not named in the committee’s eight-page report that was submitted to the Vice-Chancellor on March 11. Parts of the report were also provided to the students.
“I have been suspended for so long without any charges against me. It has been an extremely emotionally tormenting phase. I am in the final semester of my Masters and I am supposed to attend classes, but because of the debarring order I was not even able to do that,” said Ms. Adhikari.
“What has added to my anger is the fact that my name is not even mentioned in the committee report that is supposed to have probed the February 9 event. I want to ask the administration, why was I suspended for such a long time then?” she added.
A member of the university’s GSCASH (Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment) since April 2015, Ms. Adhikari has been actively engaged in raising important issues on campus, including the debate on homosexuality and creating a fair atmosphere for sexual harassment victims to come out and report.
According to Ms. Adhikari, her name was included in the suspension list like that of Kanhaiya Kumar, Anant Narayan, Rama Naga and Ashutosh Kumar because the administration wanted to “target student voices on the campus”.
The eight-page-long report of the high-level inquiry committee was based entirely on eyewitness accounts and document trail. Since none of the students, who were debarred in connection with the event deposed in front of the committee, the students have rejected the report calling it a “sham”.
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