After holding strike in support of left-leaning students for a day, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Teachers’ Union (JNUTA) has decided not to strike work on Wednesday, saying they would continue to support students’ demand for release of JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar arrested on the charge of sedition February 12.
“We had given a call for strike only for Tuesday and in our General Body Meeting we arrived as not to continue the strike but we support our student’s cause. There will be different means of protest and we will continue to join and stand by our students. However, JNUSU can decide on its own whether to come for classes or not,” JNUTA president Ajay Patnaik told The Pioneer.
Senior professor, Ayesha Kidwai said teachers do not want to give anybody an opportunity to point that university is not functional. “We will not allow anybody from outside to take the pleasure of closing down this university. We will continue to work and at the same time resist those attacking our students,” she added.
Sources also said teachers might again go to the Patiala House courts to express solidarity with Kanhaiya who is supposed to be produced before court on Wednesday. On Monday the teachers along with scribes and journalists were attacked by a mob in black coats inside the court premises.
Kidwai also said, “We won’t be deterred by such attacks as the entire country is in our support.”
Amid this, a section of the teaching community at JNU is divided over the students’ agitation against arrest of Kanhaiya with a group of them opposing the administration while the others advocated waiting for law to takes its course.
While a section of teachers on Tuesday joined the students in boycotting classes and said they would take classes on “nationalism” in the varsity lawns, the other section condemned the disruption of academic functioning of the university.
“The administration is not only acting against students but also teachers and we are being openly attacked while the V-C stays mum over it. The entire world is now referring to JNU as a hub of anti-nationals on basis of propaganda of a few people in power. It is time we teach our students what nationalism is,” said Rohith Azad, a faculty member, who was among those attacked in Patiala House courts.
Slamming him for “instigating” the students for disrupting the classes, Amita Singh, chairperson JNU’s Centre for law and Governance said, “A perception is being created that all teachers are in support of the students’ agitation, which is wrong. We do not advocate any such activity before police or university enquiry is over. Teachers’ job is to teach and not to support students’ agitation”.