The Jawaharlal Nehru University has been swinging in a pendulum of normalcy and chaos since it came in news in February. The university known for its research excellence had to allow police on campus and witness arrest of few students, after a group organised an event to commemorate the hanging anniversary of Parliament Attack convict, Afzal Guru. It was also after a many years, the students took to hunger strike in April and then approached the High Court for a remedy.
The situation went out of control, after prime time TV news, aired videos in which few students including outsiders were seen raising “anti-national” slogans on February 9 at “A cultural evening - The country without a post office”. later, some of the videos were reported to be doctored.
Based on the FIR, filed by BJP MP Maheish Girri, the Delhi Police arrested JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar. It was followed by the arrest of doctoral students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya.
Following the arrest, the JNUSU called for an “indefinite strike” demanding the release of these students. The arrests on charges of “sedition and criminal conspiracy”stirred huge debates and protests by students, academics and political parties across the country.
Kanhaiya was released from the police custody on a six months interim bail while Umar and Anirban were also released later on. The major shock to students was the punishments rendered to them by the JNU administration after the recommendations of its High level Enquiry Committee(HlEC).
While Vice Chancellor, M Jagadesh Kumar sounds calm and emphasis to have “no regrets” in handling the controversy on campus, the students seem to be at loggerheads with the administration.
“The VC works on the behest of the Government. He could have handled the situation in a much better way, had he not allowed the police on campus. The best example is how Jadavpur University Vice Chancellor handled the matter by barring police from entering the campus,” JNUSU general secretary Rama Naga told The Pioneer.
The JNU rusticated three students, including Anirban Bhattacharya and Umar Khalid, after the HlEC submitted its inquiry report on March 11. The university also imposed a fine of Rs10,000 on JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar.
Anirban has been rusticated till July 15 while Umar has been rusticated for one semester. He has also been fined Rs20,000. Anirban has been given nine days to submit his PhD thesis, following which he will be declared “out of bounds from the entire JNU campus” from July 25 onwards.
Soon after the punishments were sent to the students, a group of them staged a hunger strike — which went on for 16 days — outside the administration block, right outside the VC office.
The students, along with the JNUSU president, Umar and Anirban filed a petition challenging the disciplinary action after failed communication with the varsity’s administration.
“We tried to meet the VC many times to arrive at some solution but his response was never positive...even during the hunger strike, he communicated something to us and kept changing his mind. This is the reason why the students had to go out and approach the court,” added Rama Naga.
The High Court had asked the JNU students to call off the hunger strike and only then it readied to hear their plea. In its order, the court had asked the university to revisit the punishments and hear the appeals of the students.
Currently, the students are waiting for the appellate authority which is the Vice Chancellor to hear their appeals and come with a response to them.
On the other side, the JNUSU joint secretary who belongs to the rightist ABVP is also anti-administration. He said that the VC took “all decision under the pressure from JNUTA”.
“The VC has not taken decisions in favour of the student community. He has been in constant pressure from the leftist professors.” he said.
In terms of campus development, Saurabh said the wifi funds were yet to be utilised. “The campus is still not connected through the wifi even though funds are there. I don;t think much has been done by the administration as it claims,” he added.
All major political parties also left no stone unturned to use the JNU controversy for their personal gains.