Haryana teachers ask President to visit JNU

Demand inquiry by independent panel

The Teachers’ Association of Central University Haryana (TACUH) has written a letter to the President condemning the violence that was unleashed at Jawaharlal Nehru University campus on January 5, and demanded an inquiry by an independent panel comprising ex-Supreme Court judges and renowned educationalists.

The association also asked President Ram Nath Kovind to visit the JNU campus and assure the students and teachers that there would be an atmosphere of free teaching.

In the two-page letter, the teachers demanded that an inquiry be held to find administrative and security lapses, and “fix responsibility for the violence and terror on JNU premises”.

The letter further said that the absence of any action by JNU security or the police to stop the violence, despite being informed of it, brought the role and intention of the JNU administration under doubt.

Quoting former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru that a university stood “for tolerance, for reason, for the adventure of ideas and for the search of truth”, the letter said that what happened on January 5 juxtaposed this vision.

‘Reign of terror’

“Fierce debate on local and global issues among the students, and slogans of ‘Inquilab Zindabad’, ‘Aazaadi’ and social justice resonating in the atmosphere, and songs and theatre reflecting the dream of a just society, are identifiers of the ‘normal’ JNU life, but on January 5 this life was eclipsed by the horrible reign of terror,” read the letter.