ICC to organise 2-day sensitisation workshop

The Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of the Jawaharlal Nehru University is organising a two-day workshop on Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

A circular issued by the Registrar Pramod Kumar says that participants will be made aware of responsibilities enshrined in the Act and under the regulation of the Act.

The JNUSU, has however, pointed out that although the ICC is organising such a workshop, it has failed to deal with recent sexual harassment cases on campus that have been reported to it and on one occasion has stood in silence as the name of a complainant was leaked along with her email to the committee that is supposed to be confidential.

No action taken

The JNUSU has also pointed out that none of the faculty members against which sexual harassment complaints have been filed have been suspended pending investigation and allege that they are free to intimidate the complainants.

Students from the School of Life Sciences have alleged that Professor Atul Johri, who has been accused of sexual harassment by eight students from the School, was seen entering the building escorted by JNU security guards and that they have planned to organise a protest to ensure that Prof. Johri is suspended and is not allowed to enter the School.

GSCASH office break-in

JNUSU president Geeta Kumari said that on Tuesday evening, the JNU administration broke open the locks of the GSCASH office and accessed files that are highly confidential and sensitive. “In what vocabulary of gender justice is it acceptable that a scenario is created in which the consent of complainants are not sought before accessing the files? Moreover, why is JNU administration in an unreasonable hurry to access the files when the Delhi High Court had already given a hearing date of May 1 in the pending case?” she said.

“The administration and its puppet body is in an obnoxious quest to destroy every democratic institution only to make this campus increasingly vulnerable and dangerous for women students. The JNU community will resist in all possible means the attempts of administration to dismantle this university and hard-earned institutions and principles of gender justice,” said the JNUSU in a statement.