On JNU's campus, a summer time of discontent
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On August 22, clashes broke out on the Jawaharlal Nehru College (JNU) campus after safety guards tried to interrupt up a protest led by the Proper-wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members demanding the discharge of scholarship funds. The 2 events blamed one another for the provocation and assault, and registered first info experiences (FIRs) in opposition to one another.
Over the previous few years, the JNU campus has been rocked by a number of incidents of violence. Most such incidents noticed scholar teams with opposing political affiliations and ideologies at odds. Final month’s incident, nonetheless, stood out since ABVP — Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)’s scholar wing — took a place in opposition to the college administration. Blaming the administration for the provocation and violence, ABVP alleged that college students have been overwhelmed up on the behest of JNU rector Ajay Kumar Dubey. Whereas calling the incident unprecedented, Rohit Kumar, ABVP JNU unit president, mentioned that the rector was rattled since ABVP levelled fees in opposition to him.
Quickly after the incident, ABVP began a sit-in protest on the college demanding that Dubey is sacked and first info experiences (FIRs) in opposition to college students withdrawn. Dubey stepped down on August 29, and whereas no motive was cited, ABVP claimed that the resignation was a victory of its protest marketing campaign.
Summer time of discontent
The altercation of August 22 was the most recent amongst a collection of standoffs between ABVP and the JNU administration. On August 11, ABVP members staged a protest outdoors the dean of scholars’ residence after failing to get any redressal from the administration over the difficulty of water provide on the Mahi Mandvi hostel.
On August 19, ABVP laid siege to then-rector Ajay Dubey and sought his response to issues about hostel renovation, fellowship, and corruption fees. The administration together with the rector, and vice-chancellor (VC) Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, additionally invited criticism from a piece of JNU academics, underneath the banner of Jawaharlal Nehru College Academics’ Discussion board (JNUTF). JNUTF is a breakaway faction of the elected academics’ physique, Jawaharlal Nehru College Academics’ Affiliation (JNUTA), and has typically taken a pro-government stand on numerous points.
Discontent has been brewing among the many academics’ discussion board that has accused the VC of “pandering to Marxists”. Whereas expressing disagreement and disappointment with Pandit’s current attraction to change the MCQ-based Widespread College Entrance Check (CUET) examination format for admission to postgraduate programs, the academics’ physique mentioned that the VC was colluding with brokers of chaos by casting aspersions on the CUET. “It isn't solely a untimely submission but in addition an indication that the JNU vice-chancellor has been appropriated by the Marxist group of so-called intellectuals. She had been desperately attempting to realize recognition by the Marxist group of students for the reason that day of her assumption of the workplace in JNU,” mentioned JNUTF president Milap Punia and secretary Nagendra Shreeniwas.
JNUTF versus VC
JNUTF mentioned that the VC had been appearing on the recommendation of Marxists and attempting to earn their admiration by publicly exhibiting settlement with the agenda of Marxist professors. “She has turn out to be the spokesperson of a disruptive group of academics in opposition to this flagship educational restructuring coverage of the federal government,” mentioned JNUTF. The group mentioned that whereas it had hoped that the primary girl VC of the college would work for the liberation of the Indian training system from the clutches of “Eurocentric, elitist, and anti-India teachers masquerading as intellectuals”, the VC’s strategy and stance dimmed their hopes. JNUTF has additionally alleged that have been “humiliated, insulted and publicly implicated with imagined fees” by the varsity administration together with the rector ever for the reason that new VC took cost in February this yr.
Pandit, in the meantime, has mentioned that allegations levelled in opposition to her are false and of malafide intent. Calling the allegations part of a motivated marketing campaign in opposition to her, she acknowledged that the physique’s conduct was patriarchal and misogynistic. “First I used to be known as a Savarkar-wadi and Godse-wadi, now I've gone to the opposite finish,” mentioned Pandit, alluding to the criticism she obtained when she took cost.
Quickly after her appointment in February, screenshots of tweets posted from an unverified account, @SantishreeD, have been circulated on social media, drawing criticism. The deal with, having tweets supporting Nathuram Godse, advocated that funding must be stopped to “communal campuses like Jamia and St Stephen’s”, and terming farmer leaders as “parasitic middlemen”, was deleted quickly after that. She mentioned the morphed tweets have been an try and construct a story in opposition to her.
Whereas rejecting the allegations levelled by JNUTF, Pandit insists that a handful of academics have been spreading canards and campaigning in opposition to her. “Solely a handful of academics are doing this… They're saying I'm in opposition to the federal government, in opposition to the RSS. That is utter nonsense. They're unable to tolerate a lady who can suppose for herself. They're going in opposition to their very own prime minister by attacking a lady on this method,” mentioned Pandit.
A thaw in relations?
Whereas many points between the VC and the academics' discussion board stay unresolved, the resignation of rector Dubey might be the turning level within the forwards and backwards between the varied events. On Thursday, JNUTF wrote to the VC flagging a number of issues and searching for constructive engagement on numerous points. The academics' discussion board letter to the VC takes a reconciliatory tone, a lot in distinction to a number of earlier statements.
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