New Delhi: Rajya Sabha MP and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Manoj Jha has spoken out sharply after a planned lecture of his at Delhi University was cancelled due to “unforeseen circumstances” just days before it was supposed to occur.
Jha is a professor in the university’s Department of Social Work. He was supposed to speak on ‘Political Social Work: New Opportunity for Practice’ in a session meant for teachers.
“Those who cancelled the event should be asked why it was cancelled. But I am certain that everything that has happened has been entirely in opposition to due process,” Jha said in a video message in Hindi. “On August 18, I received this letter [showing the letter] stating that my lecture will be held on September 4, between 10 and 11:30 am. And then this morning [August 30], I received this letter saying that due to unforeseen circumstances, the lecture has been cancelled. This is my university, I teach here, I take classes here. This is where I studied and this is where I now teach. Despite that, who is finding this so hard to digest?”
“I tried to take my stand to the vice-chancellor. I am able to say these things in front of the prime minister, the education minister, in parliament, on the streets, in newspapers – but I cannot say them in my own university to other teachers. What is this fear? Is this how India will become a ‘vishwaguru’? By locking up our universities? After today, I will even write a plain letter to the prime minister, as well as the education minister, and point out what is going on under their noses. If they do not agree with such actions, they must put an end to them immediately. Because we cannot just watch a university die,” he concluded in the video.
The Democratic United Teachers’ Alliance (DUTA) – a group of DU teachers – has also come out strongly against the cancellation. This “is one more instance of institutionalisation of an intolerant and bigoted culture in the University of Delhi”, a statement signed by DUTA Coordination Committee convenor Nandita Narain states.
“Typically, such exclusion is carried out by leaving out persons with contrarian views. It appears that Prof. Manoj Jha got invited due to oversight by the vigilante since he is known for his criticism of the ideological position of the ruling dispensation both as an academic and political social worker. It is a disgrace for an eminent institution and strikes at the very idea of a University. …Besides being a vocal and active parliamentarian, Prof Jha is a former Head of Department and Professor of Social Work. Not allowing to speak him to his fellow colleagues is an expression of debasing of institutional and academic decision making,” the statement continues.