Observing that Jamia Millia Islamia Vice-Chancellor Najma Akhtar handled a more explosive situation on her campus in a far better way than Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) V-C Jagadesh, the HRD Ministry on Tuesday sought explanation from him for his failure to control the disturbances on the campus.
The HRD Ministry, which is preparing a detailed report to send to the Home Ministry on Sunday’s violence on the prestigious university campus, has summoned the JNU V-C again on Wednesday. The V-C had skipped a high-level meeting convened by the Ministry on Monday.
In its preliminary report, the Ministry has said the JNU administration needed to be more sensitive towards the students and conveyed its displeasure at the handling of the incident by the university administration. After the violence on the campus there has been a demand from several quarters, including the students and faculty members, for the removal of the JNU V-C.
JNU Pro-Vice Chancellor, Registrar Pramod Kumar, Rector Rana Pratap Singh and Proctor Dhananjay Singh had a meeting with HRD Ministry Secretary Amit Khare on Monday.
Condemning the mob violence on the campus that left 34 people injured, the Ministry in a note on Tuesday observed that police investigation should go on, however, the students should not feel threatened.
“The Government is of the view that students shouldn’t be worried about facing disciplinary action from the administration such as rustications and harassment. The Ministry is of the view that the university should bring down the tension on the campus.
The Ministry has also said that it does not want the university to shut down and the administration should be sensitive towards the students as the administration has not met students who were injured,” the source quoted the initial report.
Simultaneously, the HRD Ministry has observed that Jamia Millia University Vice-Chancellor Najma Akhtar handled the incident of violence inside the campus far better than the JNU administration. The note appreciated that Jamia administration on its own rushed to the HRD Ministry and apprised the situation and then kept on informing about each development within the campus that witnessed violence in protest against the Centre’s Citizen’s Amendment Act (CAA) and National Population Register (NPR).
Under fire from students and faculty members for not doing enough when they were brutally attacked by a masked mob on campus, Mamidala urged the students on Tuesday to put the past behind and return to the university premises. In a brief statement, the JNU V-C said, “Our heart goes out to all injured students. The incident (violence) is unfortunate. I would like to tell students that JNU campus is a secure place. I urge all students to come back to the campus. Let us put the past behind.”
Later interacting with reporters, the V-C said the campus has its own security. “If there is a law and order situation we do not rush to the police immediately. We see if our security can handle it. The campus has its own security. On Sunday, when we saw that there is a possibility of aggressive behaviour among students, we informed the police,” he said.
JNU Professor Sucharita Sen, who suffered head injuries during the attack on students and teachers, has filed a police complaint. Sen said outsiders had gathered on the university campus with sticks, rods, and deadly weapons. She said she was first hit with a large stone on her shoulder and then with even a larger one on her head, following which she fell on the ground bleeding profusely.