Cracking the whip on the students, who were involved in the February 9 event against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru on the campus, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Monday rusticated Umar Khalid and two other students for varying duration and slapped a fine of Rs10,000 on JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar.
Khalid has been rusticated for one semester with a fine of Rs20,000 while Anirban Bhattacharya has been rusticated till July 14 and the campus will be “out of bounds” for him for the next five years from July 25.
A Kashmiri student Mujeeb Gattoo, who was found shouting “anti-national” slogans on February 9 by the university’s High-level Enquiry Committee was rusticated for two semesters. The recommendations were made by the HlEC which was formed to independently enquire into “The Cultural Evening: A country without a post office” inside the university premises.
Kanhaiya, Umar and Anirban were arrested on charges of sedition in February in connection with the controversial event and are out on bail. Their arrest had triggered widespread protests.
“Based on the report of the high-level committee, the Vice-Chancellor has imposed Rs10,000 fine on Kanhaiya and ordered rustication of Khalid for the following semester with a fine of Rs20,000. Anirban has been rusticated till July 15, he will not be able to pursue any course or participate in any activity on campus for next five years from July 25. Any students giving shelter to Anirban shall face disciplinary action,” a university official told The Pioneer.
He said while Umar and Gattoo will have the option of resuming their courses once the period of rustication is over, Anirban has been given a window of a week (July 16-23) to complete his thesis.
Ten other students were also penalised, including one from the ABVP on charges of obstructing traffic on the campus. A high-level committee found ABVP member Saurabh Sharma, who had objected to the event, “guilty” of blocking traffic on the day of the event and penalised him with Rs20,000.
Other students, who were debarred from campus for around one month, include JNUSU general secretary Rama Naga, Aishwariya Adhikari, Anant Prakash, Chintu Kumari and Gargi Adhikari. They were also imposed Rs20,000 fine. The campus was also made out of bounds for two former students — Banojyotsana lahiri and Draupadi. Hostel facilities were withdrawn for Ashutosh Kumar for a year and Komal Mohite till July 21.
“The order has directed the students to deposit the fine by May 13 and failing which, the hostel facility would be withdrawn and further registration will not be allowed,” the official added.
Under the university guidelines, Khalid has been found guilty of violating the rule which prohibits “furnishing false certificates or false information in any manner of the university, arousing communal, caste or regional feeling or creating disharmony among students and violating discipline and conduct in the university”.
Bhattacharya has been found guilty on the same lines as Khalid, in addition he has also been found responsible for “causing or colluding in the unauthorised entry of any person into the campus or in the unauthorised occupation of any portion of the university premises.”
“These charges on the part of student are very serious in nature, unbecoming of a student of JNU and calls for strident disciplinary action against them.” reads the order sent to each of the students involved.
Reacting to the administration’s decision, JNUSU vice-president Shehla Rashid Shora called it a “farcical” enquiry report and “completely rejected” to accept it. “It is based on sheer vendetta and a biased enquiry. The punishments are all based on one-sided statements from ABVP members, and our repeated calls to conduct a fair enquiry were ignored,” Shora added.
The JNUSU has said that they will launch a country-wide protest against the Central Government. “The Vice-Chancellor is taking directions from the Central Government... Students across the country have assured support to us. People from all walks of life are supporting JNU students against this targeting.”
On the other hand, the ABVP said the quantum of punishment was “a great disappointment” and accused the university of surrendering to “anti-India section of JNUTA as well as leftist student organisations”.