JNUSU ends 23-day ‘lockdown’

The Jawaharlal Nehru Students’ Union (JNUSU) on Monday called off it 23-day-long university strike in which several schools and centres were in “lockdown” against the “authoritarianism and high handedness” of the administration.

Main concerns

In an emergency council meeting, the JNUSU said it assessed the status of the movement and decided that since the student community across centres was deeply concerned regarding their due scholarships, the upcoming semester-end examinations and submission of thesis and dissertations, the “lockdown” would end but they would continue with the boycott of attendance.

The union said that to carry forward their agitation, they would start a protest at Freedom Square and come up with a joint action plan with the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers’ Association (JNUTA). They also resolved to approach the SC/ST Commission, various MPs and Ministers to highlight the continuous scuttling of social justice by the JNU administration.

ICC issue

Talking about the council meeting, JNUSU president Geeta Kumari said the union discussed how the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) had failed to handle the cases of sexual harassment on campus that had come to light recently. “The ICC in one of the cases that has come to light has completely failed to maintain the confidentiality of the complainant putting the individual in a spot where she/he could be targeted”, said the JNUSU.

The union has said that they would continue to pressurise the Dean of the School of Life Sciences to suspend Professor Atul Johri while the probe against him is on, as well suspend Professor Mahendra P. Lama so that he does not hold the power and be in a position to influence the inquiry against him on charges of sexual harassment.