JNU teacher told not to speak at meetings

NEW DELHI: After suspending 12 students for “disrupting” the Academic Council (AC) meeting on December 26, the Jawaharlal Nehru University administration has sent a letter to faculty member Nivedita Menon for “violation of the university rules”.

At a meeting organised by the JNU Students Union (JNUSU) on Friday, the professor at Centre for Comparative Politics & Political Theory said she had been sent a letter by the registrar for addressing a group of students near the administrative building on December 28 and asked not to speak at any meeting or else she would attract “disciplinary actions”.

Several faculty members of JNU came out in support of the students and called the suspension decision “a violation of democratic norms”. They also opposed the AC decision to adopt the University Grants Commission notification making interviews the main criterion for choosing PhD and MPhil scholars.

JNUSU vice-president

Satarupa Chakrobarty

said the adoption of the UGC notification would lead to a “non-uniform admission policy at the university”. She claimed that both she and JNUSU president Mohit Pandey had opposed the decision of the administration to bring in the UGC norms and hike fees in the AC meeting on December 26. “But the VC did not allow anyone who was opposing him to speak,” she said.

Confirming it, faculty member

Jayati Ghosh

said, “None of the (AC) members opposing the VC was allowed to speak.” She also claimed that the minutes of the meeting were truncated. “We are living in a post-truth university,” the economics teacher said.

Teachers called for a large-scale mobilisation to fight against the administration for “undermining the university functioning”. Menon said, “We reject the UGC notification as the university has an autonomy not to adhere to it,” she said.