A public meeting organised by the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Alumni Association in Kolkata and a civil society body Citizen’s Forum for Peace and Democracy on Tuesday demanded the resignation of Vice-Chancellor of the JNU Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar to restore normalcy in the university. Albeena Shakil, a former president of the JNU students’ union (JNUSU), said the V-C is not “governing the university but pursuing some twisted agenda”.
“Till now the V-C has not once said he is willing to talk to the teachers and the students after so much of hue and cry. Rather he is asking the students to join the university arguing that the registration will be renewed [which the students have refused] as if nothing has happened. This is unacceptable,” said Ms. Shakil. Narrating how the problem snowballed over the last three months, Ms. Shakil said all along Mr. Kumar had refused to have dialogue. He even refused to attend the meetings called by the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry, she said.
“He cannot continue to do this unless he is protected by powerful people in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the BJP. We also now know through media leaks how the last HRD Secretary was removed…at whose behest. The Home Minister is protecting the V-C and thus we demand his resignation as well,” Ms. Shakil said. Arguing that the movement is largely led from the front by women, another former student Subhanil Chowdhury said the message of the Sangh Parivar was “loud and clear”.
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“Aishe Ghosh is attacked for a reason. To underscore that if women come out of home to protest they will be assaulted brutally so that they stop taking to the streets. It is commendable that within 24 hours after being hit Aishe Ghosh was out on the streets and said she is not leaving the fight,” said Mr. Chowdhury.
Former journalist Debasish Bhattacharya said the “silence of Prime Minister and Home Minister on the violence is condemnable”. Earlier, 2,000 students and teachers participated in a protest in the Calcutta University.