The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) on Friday organised a strike on campus that saw the participation of a large number of students. The students not only protested outside the various centres and schools during the day but also organised a massive “mess campaign” in the evening to ask students to reject the administration’s compulsory attendance rule.
The students who were already in protest mode, further became agitated after the administration released a new circular threatening students with stopping of fellowships/scholarships, withdrawal of hostel seats and debarring them from sitting for exams or registering for the next semester if they failed to have minimum attendance of 75%. Previously, attendance was not compulsory at the university.
“This latest threat of JNU admin shows how desperate they are to break the unity of students who for more than one month have been boycotting compulsory attendance in huge numbers.
The fear of civil disobedience of more than 80% students has the administration worried,” said the JNUSU. “Failing to provide any logic to its illegal circular JNU V-C is now commissioning threats through circulars”, said the students.
JNUTA ‘concerned’
The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) also expressed its concern about the situation emerging on the campus following the circular that threatened action if attendance norms are not adhered to.
“Listing a series of punitive actions against refusal to record attendance, the JNUTA, and several centres and schools have already expressed their serious reservation regarding the implementation of a policy of mandatory attendance. We urge the administration to initiate a dialogue with the concerned parties on the matter, instead of using authoritarian and coercive methods,” said the JNUTA. In a statement, the JNUTA also appealed to teachers, students, and karamcharis to avoid confrontational situations with each other.
Students accuses Prof
In a related development, a JNU student accused a professor of “manhandling” her during the protest against compulsory attendance. Both the professor and the student have filed complaints at the Vasant Kunj Marg police station, a senior police officer said.
JNU students alleged that the professor manhandled a protesting student when she tried to prevent him from entering the School of Social Sciences.
However, both the professor and the student were unavailable for a comment.
