Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student activist Umar Khalid on Friday said that he would challenge in court a university panel’s recommendation upholding his rustication in connection with the February 2016 event on Afzal Guru’s hanging, during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised on campus.
In a statement issued a day after the university sent him the rustication notice, Mr. Khalid said that it was the third time in the last two years that the JNU administration had issued a rustication order against him in the case. The order was set aside twice by the courts.
“We once again reject this farce of an enquiry along with its findings and verdict. It is against all principles of natural justice, and is riddled with contradictions, lies and malice, which will soon be exposed again. We will once again challenge this [order] in court and will continue our struggle against such vindictive witch-hunt of any voice of dissent in universities across the country,” he said.
Mr. Khalid said that the inquiry committee was prejudiced from day one. “An administration that has been running on the orders of the ruling BJP and the RSS was at no point of time in a position of impartiality to conduct this enquiry. The court has repeatedly found faults with the enquiry process and has vindicated our apprehensions,” he said.
Student activism
Speaking about student activism on campus, Mr. Khalid said: “We are student activists and have been raising our voice against the arrogance of power under the Narendra Modi regime and against the manifold injustices in society. But we are also students who have pursued our academics seriously over the years. The two are not exclusive of each other.”
He said that politics reflects in academic pursuits and vice versa as both relate to the rights of the most marginalised in society.
“As the ones studying in a public-funded university with taxpayers’ money, we have a responsibility towards society. My PhD is on socio-economic deprivation and political marginalisation of tribals since colonial times. It is ironic that the same regime that says that students are not serious about their studies in JNU is today hell-bent upon stopping us from submitting our PhDs that are products of rigorous research, passion and criticality,” he added.
