JNUTA pens open letter to Ramesh Pokhriyal

NEW DELHI: Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers’ Association (

JNUTA

), in an open

letter

to human resource development (HRD) minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘

Nishank

’, has criticised him for not acknowledging the January 5 violence on the campus.

Referring to a PTI interview where

Pokhriyal

had said the students’ demand to sack the vice-chancellor was “not reasonable,” JNUTA said it was the HRD ministry which had “acknowledged the inability of the VC to initiate any dialogue with students. MHRD effectively reiterated the same understanding when it had to step in once again to initiate discussions on December 10 and 11”.

Claiming that VC M

Jagadesh Kumar

had refused to even attempt a solution, JNUTA asked Pokhriyal if he shouldn’t hold the VC responsible for the “very avoidable” disruption of academic activities. The association enclosed letters from over 2,100 academics from across the world seeking the VC’s removal. He should be removed “on the ground of his indefensible criminal misconduct”, JNUTA claimed.