The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) on Wednesday organised a sit-in in front of the union’s office to protest the eviction notice issued by the university administration.
The students gathered in large numbers after receiving a notice from Dean of Students Umesh Kadam that asked them to vacate the office located at the student activity centre. “The JNUSU was not notified last year due to non-compliance with the Lyngdoh Committee Report and the matter is sub judice. The newly elected union is yet to be notified,” the notice said.
‘Misuse of property’
Mr. Kadam, in the notice, further said that the union must vacate the office by 5 pm on Wednesday. “To prevent misuse of property, it is decided by the competent authority of the university that the said room shall be locked immediately and the same may be handed over to the JNUSU after notification of the same,” the notice read.
Responding to the notice, the JNUSU said, “We would like to remind the JNU administration that the JNUSU office is not the personal property of the Dean of Students to allot, it is a symbol of the JNU student community’s right to representation and unionise, that is entrusted to the JNUSU.”
They said that the JNUSU is elected by the students of JNU and legitimised by them and not by the administration and that orders and judgments of the Delhi High Court have recognised this fact.
“The JNU administration has one by one snatched away our public spaces for democratic debate and dissent, be it our dhabas, or the mess halls that are currently only allotted to students affiliated to a particular political front on campus. The JNUSU office has become one of the last spaces where we can organise our meetings and discussions,” the JNUSU said.
AISA alleged that the plan to lock the JNUSU office has been one in the making to not recognise the union. “This year, the administration did not take ₹15 union fee from students. From day one, the admin clearly wanted to destroy students’ rights and voices. Be it the agenda of disrupting and interfering in JNUSU electoral process, getting election results stayed, or not letting the union function and not calling them for statutory mandated committees. They have been trying these measures one after the other hoping that it would succeed,” AISA said.
After preventing the guards from locking the office at the scheduled time on Wednesday, the students took out a protest march on the campus.