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Students, Alumni of IIT Gandhinagar Express Solidarity With JNU Protest

The statement said it stands with JNU students for fighting the privatisation and contractualisation of higher education.

New Delhi: The students, faculty, staff and alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar have issued a statement in solidarity with the students and teachers of Jawaharlal Nehru University.

In the statement, around 80 students and faculty of IIT Gandhinagar condemn the “repressive university administration” and express support for the students of JNU for fighting the privatisation and contractualisation of higher education. Calling the administration ‘authoritarian’, the statement says that the agitation by the students was being treated as a mere ‘law and order problem’.

The undersigned students and faculty members also pointed out that the authoritarian attitude of the administration had also manifested in the form of “brutal police violence against students who protested peacefully”.

The statement also referred to JNU as the benchmark for institutions of public higher education in India due to its values of inclusivity and critical thinking and further pointed out that the proposed fee hike was a direct attack on the institution’s inclusiveness and autonomy.

The statement cited the rise of the Sangh parivar and the ideology of neoliberalism that aimed to privatise and commodify education and exclude marginalised communities like Dalit-Bahujans, Muslims, and the lower classes. The signatories also asserted that an atmosphere that was diverse and inclusive was intrinsic to learning.

Also read: ‘Jasn-e-JNU’: What Lies Behind the Calls to Dismantle Public University Education?

The statement drew attention to resistances in universities across the country like the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Jadavpur University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Visva-Bharati University, University of Hyderabad and Delhi University and held that the current regime was opposed to a “spirit of inclusion and diversity”. Expressing solidarity with the struggles of students, teachers, staff and alumni at all universities, the signatories maintained that the “right to protest should be respected”.

The full text of the statement has been reproduced below.

In Solidarity with JNU: Students, Faculty, Staff and Alumni of Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar

We, the undersigned students, faculty, staff and alumni of Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, stand in solidarity with the students and teachers of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), who have been fighting the increasing privatization and contractualization of higher education. They have also been fighting a repressive university administration. The administration has refused to engage in any dialogue, has attempted to bypass norms while introducing new policies, treated the agitation of the students as a mere ‘law and order problem,’ and has lodged criminal cases against protesting students. This is clearly the case of an authoritarian administration refusing to listen to claims expressed by students through democratic dissent. This attitude has also manifested itself outside the university, where we saw brutal police violence against students who protested peacefully. Clearly, the JNU administration and the Central Government are in unison.

From its inception, JNU had set a benchmark for public higher education in India, through its inclusiveness, and its appreciation of critical thinking. The JNU community has fiercely guarded these qualities in the past, and is guarding them today. The proposed hike in fees is a direct attack on the idea of JNU. The inclusiveness of the JNU community–which has been achieved through innovative admission criteria, sensitivity to diversity, and reasonable autonomy–is under threat. The immediate consequence would be the exclusion of students from marginalized sections of society.

This issue should be placed in a larger context, where the idea of the public university in India has come under attack from two directions: the Sangh Parivar and Neoliberalism. The first aims to cleanse university spaces of any voices opposing the Modi-led regime. The second looks at education as mere commodity, to be privatized and ‘sold’ at high prices. It is obvious that the immediate victims of Hindutva and neoliberalism are students from marginalized communities: Dalit-Bahujans, Muslims, and the lower classes.

We believe that learning can be most rewarding if we learn amidst people coming from diverse backgrounds–including various caste, class, gender, and religious backgrounds. Many individuals and groups have strived to make our university spaces more diverse and inclusive. We hold that the current regime has accelerated processes that go against this spirit of inclusion and diversity. Apart from JNU, resistance against these processes has shown itself in universities throughout the country, including Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Jadavpur University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Visva-Bharati University, University of Hyderabad and Delhi University. We stand by the struggles of the various communities of students, teachers, staff and alumni of these as well as other universities in India. Their right to protest should be respected, and their demands should be heeded.

SIGNED:

Ajin K Thomas, Alumnus, Class of 2019
Rohit Revi, Alumnus, Class of 2017
Prateek Pawankumar Khobragade, Alumnus, Class of 2017
Dalia N, Alumna, Class of 2019
Bhargav Oza, Alumnus, Class of 2016
Asaf Ali Lona, Alumnus, Class of 2016
Ingole Prashant, Student
Zaphya Gena, Student, Class of 2020
Vysakh R, Student, Class of 2024
Amritha Mather, Student,
Noyonika Das, Student, Class of 2020
Anushka, Student, Class of 2020
Sanika Gupta, Alumna, Class of 2019
Rachelle C, Student, Class of 2020
Ihsan K, Student, Class of 2020
Gurpreet Kaur, Student
Nanditha J S, Student
Pankaj, Alumnus, Class of 2019
Kamyaban Hazarika, Alumnus, Class of 2019
Anant Mista, Student, Class of 2021
Arka Chattopadhyay, Faculty member
Shobhit Kakaria, Alumnus, Class of 2018
Debasmita Ghosh, Student
Ambika Aiyadurai, Faculty member
Suhair KK, Alumnus, Class of 2019
Mohd Javaid, Student, Class of 2021
Devdutta Chakraborty, Student, Class of 2020
Saravanan Velusamy, Alumnus, Class of 2016
Tushar Meshram, Alumnus, Class of 2016
Ravi Setty, Alumnus, Class of 2018
Omi Kumari, Alumna, Class of 2019
Ashish Joseph, Alumnus, Class of 2019
Fasna K, Student, Class of 2021
Dyotana Banerjee, Student, Class of 2019
Sushanth, Staff member
Prerna Khobragade, Student, Class of 2020
Mujeebu Rahman K C, Alumnus, Class of 2017
Vinaya E H, Alumna, Class of 2018
Megha Sanyal, Alumna, Class of 2018
Jahnu Bharadwaj, Student, Class of 2020
Arun Krishna, Alumnus, Class of 2016
Samruddhi Damle, Student, Class of 2020
Prashanth, Student, Class of 2020
Haby Koshy Mathew, Student
Arundhathy Beena, Alumna, Class of 2018
Medha Deshpande, Alumna, Class of 2019
Amit Tiwari, Alumnus, Class of 2017
Abhijith TK, Alumnus, Class of 2018
Camellia Biswas, Student, Class of 2023
Rishabh Bhattacharya, Alumnus, Class of 2019
B.Vishnu Sai, Student, Class of 2021
Prerna Subramanian, Alumna, Class of 2018
Kashif Jamal, Student, Class of 2020
Moin Quresshi, Student, Class of 2021
Suyash Pasi, Alumnus, Class of 2019
Tanvi Jain, Alumna, Class of 2019
Aastha Soni, Alumna, Class of 2018
Sairam Manjula, Student, Class of 2018
Luke Nihal Dasari, Alumnus, Class of 2019
Noopur Joshi, Alumna, Class of 2016
Vaibhav Joshi, Alumnus, Class of 2017
Aatman Vora, Alumnus, Class of 2017
Mayank, Alumnus, Class of 2017
Sai Kiran Bojja, Alumnus, Class of 2019
Ankit Bhange, Alumnus, Class of 2017
Bhavesh Sonwani, Alumnus, Class of 2018
Dharmendra Kumar, Alumnus, Class of 2017
Ayushi Rai, Student
Akansha Yashasvi, Student, Class of 2020
Rujuta Naik, Student, Class of 2020
Simily Sabu, Alumna, Class of 2015
Prashant, Student, Class of 2024
Oishi Roy, Staff member
Debtroy Das, Student, Class of 2020
S.S.Isaiamudhu, Alumna, Class of 2019
Kanishk Kalra, Student, Class of 2021
Aakrati Gupta, Alumna, Class of 2016
Gnana Selvam, Student, Class of 2020
Shailendra Kumar, Alumnus, Class of 2017

‘Question of Our Children’s Future’: Over 3,000 March in Solidarity With JNU Students

Students, political workers, alumni and teachers from a wide cross-section of institutions, organisations and walks of life, walked for a complete rollback of the fees hike.

New Delhi: More than 3,000 people joined a citizen’s march from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar, in solidarity with JNU students who are protesting against the hostel fees hike, on Saturday morning.

Men and women from students’ organisations, trade unions, JNU alumni, the JNU Teachers’ Association and rights bodies like the People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) marched along with JNU students carrying placards and raising slogans against the Modi government and its education policies. They also criticised the high handedness of the Delhi police in dealing with student protestors.

JNU students have been protesting for four weeks against a significant hike in the hostel fee and other new charges that the students claim would create barriers for students from deprived backgrounds.

The citizen’s march in solidarity with JNU students saw teachers’ organisations as well, in New Delhi on November 23. Photo: Akhil Kumar

Many students were reportedly injured in a recent march to the HRD ministry after police allegedly resorted to lathicharge. FIRs have also been lodged against many students.

Also read: Social Justice in the Times of JNU Protests

The reasons for people from many different walks of life joining the march ranged from a concern for their own children’s education to the necessity to safeguard what many consider a model of inclusive education that JNU represents. “The BJP government is acting against the interests of not just JNU students but all students, youth, farmers and workers. We can respond effectively only when all of us come together. This is not just about the students; fee hikes will eventually impact parents and other members of the society,” Girija Pathak from the All India People’s Forum (AIPF) told The Wire.

Students from various organisations walked in solidarity with JNU students, in New Delhi on November 23. Photo: Akhil Kumar

Central trade unions like All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) were also present at the march, in a show of student-worker solidarity. JNU students have also been known to actively work with trade unions and join them in their struggles for workers’ rights.

“Our own children also go to schools and colleges. This government’s new education policy will limit access to education to the hands of the privileged few,” Anurag Saxena, Delhi state general secretary of CITU, told The Wire. Many participants in the march expressed concern about the adverse effect of the fee hikes on access to education for marginalised communities, especially women.

“No matter which caste or region they come from, women would be discouraged from pursing education if it is expensive. People from the Dalit and OBC communities would also suffer,” Saxena added.

Many current students narrated their own experiences and spoke about how a nominal fee helped them get quality education, which, in turn, has opened many professional doors for them.

The citizen’s march from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar in solidarity with JNU students, in New Delhi on November 23. Photo: Akhil Kumar

“For my Bachelor’s degree, I made it to many universities but getting through JNU was an achievement. Quality education and fees were the biggest deciding factor and I couldn’t have afforded to study at any other place. I have completed my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from JNU, and am currently in the second year of my PhD. I have come this far only because of accessible education, and would have had to look for a job after getting my undergraduate degree otherwise, “Pankaj Kumar, a research scholar in the School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies of JNU, told The Wire.

He also said that many students like him, who are meritorious and waiting for an opportunity like this, would be deprived of the education he could receive if the fee was hiked. “I have joined this march so that students like me also get access to quality education without having to take out huge loans,” Kumar added.

Alumni at the citizen’s march from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar, in New Delhi on November 23. Photo: Akhil Kumar

Former students carried a banner that read “JNU alumni stand with JNU”. Pointing to CAG data which revealed that Rs 94,036 crore collected since FY ’07 as secondary and higher secondary education cess has been retained in the Consolidated Fund of India, contrary to procedure, they said the problem wasn’t lack of funds but a larger, sinister plan to alter the inclusive model of education in JNU.

“The current administration is not open to dialogue; I have never seen this before in JNU. The VC just sends memos and orders, and is not available to talk. When we were there, we constantly had a dialogue with the administration. Sometimes they didn’t accept our demands but it was an open conversation based on mutual respect,” Abhilasha Kumari, who studied Sociology at JNU from 1974 to 1976, told The Wire.

A CPI(ML) member at the JNU solidarity march in New Delhi on November 23. Photo: Akhil Kumar

Kumari, and many other alumni, alleged that the government’s agenda was just to punish and repress JNU because of its open and democratic culture. “The VC has money to erect statues in the campus but not for our children? Data shows that a massive amount of money meant for education remains unutilised,” Kumari added.

Ritambara Shastri, another alumnus who studied at the School of International Studies of the university from 1976 to 1981 claimed that the VC was “clearly anti-student”. She said that the current JNU VC was not interested in preserving the university and just wanted to crush its spirit.

“An open dialogue and conceding to the genuine demands of the students is the only way forward, there can be no resolution until the fee hike is reversed in entirety. How can you have an inclusive university when you make it inaccessible for deprived and marginalised students?” Shastri asked.

The march also saw participation from some political parties.

“JNU has been repeatedly attacked ever since the Modi government came to power. It’s a war like situation against JNU. This is clearly an attempt to move towards overall privatisation of education in the country. JNU has always resisted against all regressive moves of the government and that’s why there is an attempt to create a negative image of the university. They want to tame the students through brute force. We are here to tell these students that they are not alone,” Rajendra Pratholi, Central Committee member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation, told The Wire.

JNU Hostel Fee Hike: HRD Panel Meets Students, to Submit Recommendations in a Week

The three-member panel was constituted on Monday to recommend ways to restore normal functioning of the university.

New Delhi: The three-member panel appointed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development to recommend ways to restore normal functioning in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) where students are agitating against a fee hike, concluded its meetings on Friday and will submit its recommendations next week.

The three-member committee, including former UGC chairman V.S. Chauhan, AICTE chairman Anil Sahasrabudhe and UGC secretary Rajnish Jain visited JNU campus on Friday to meet the students union representatives.

“We spoke to the students union representatives and took their suggestions into account. The meeting went on for two hours where we dwelled upon the reasons behind the discord between the varsity administration and students,” a committee member told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

“This was the final meeting and we have listened to all perspectives. We will now submit our recommendations within a week’s time,” he added.

Also read: ‘Jasn-e-JNU’: What Lies Behind the Calls to Dismantle Public University Education?

Chauhan told reporters after the meeting, “The discussion has been positive but the final call will be taken by the JNU administration. We will submit the recommendations soon”,

The three-member panel was constituted on Monday to recommend ways to restore normal functioning of the Jawaharlal Nehru University and mediate between the administration and students who have been protesting for nearly four weeks over the hostel fee hike.

The Friday meeting was the second round of discussions that the panel members had with the student representatives. The first meeting was held with JNU Students Union (JNUSU) office-bearers, student counsellors and hostel presidents on Wednesday at HRD Ministry.

The committee had also met Deans of all schools and representatives of JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA).

The agitation over hiked hostel fee escalated on November 11 when JNU students clashed with police.

A week later, students staged a march from the university campus to HRD Ministry but were stopped at multiple locations and finally outside the Safdarjung tomb.

The protesters alleged that the police had lathicharged and manhandled them, including a blind student, which led to a fresh protest by a group of visually challenged students.

Police File FIRs Against JNU Students; Union Wants No Action Against Protestors

The JNUSU said that the strike would not be called off until their demands are met.

New Delhi: The Delhi Police lodged two FIRs on Tuesday in connection with the protest by Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students over a hostel fee hike, even as the students’ union demanded that no administrative or legal action be taken against the protestors.

The issue also resonated in the Lok Sabha with opposition members describing the alleged police action on the students’ “suppression of voice” and demanding total rollback of hostel fee hike.

Jawaharlal Nehru Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh said that they had a meeting with joint secretary of the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry G.C. Hosur on Monday and requested him to ensure that no administrative action is initiated against the students.

“Students have been getting notices through e-mail for these protests. But these protests are for a just cause and no student will pay even a single-rupee fine,” she told reporters. She claimed that even though the university administration was “not working”, every student has got 10-11 notices stating that they will be fined.

“We will put forth the demand before the high-power committee constituted by the HRD ministry that no police or administrative action be taken against students,” the JNUSU president said.

Also read: JNU’s Four Subversions: A Primer For the Anxious Right-Wing Citizen

The HRD ministry has called the members of the JNU students’ union for a meeting at 10:30 am on Wednesday with the high-power committee constituted by the ministry to look into the issues concerning the university. Also, another meeting of the hostel presidents with the panel has been scheduled in the latter half of the Wednesday.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Delhi Police registered two FIRs in connection with the protest by JNU students over a hostel fee hike, a senior police official said.

On the other hand, the university approached the Delhi high court seeking contempt action against its students and the Delhi Police for allegedly violating a court order against holding a protest within 100 metres of the varsity’s administrative block.

The JNU claimed that the students had grossly violated the August 9, 2017, high court order by holding a protest within 100 metres of the administrative block and affecting its day-to-day working. It said the police also violated the court order by refusing and failing to take action to maintain law and order in the university.

In the Lok Sabha, Saugata Roy of the Trinamool Congress raised the issue during the Zero Hour and said the hike should be rolled back as poor students will find it difficult to pay the amount.

T.N. Prathapan of the Congress said the students are protesting for their rights.

“The government is undemocratically suppressing their voice against fee hike. The government is ruining higher education institutions,” he said.

The JNU students’ union also alleged that the registrar of the university refused to meet the members of the HRD Ministry-appointed panel for mediating between the agitating students and the administration and recommending ways to restore the normal functioning of the university.

JNU students clash with police during a protest march towards Parliament in New Delhi, November 11, 2019. Photo: PTI/Ravi Choudhary

The JNUSU, which has been leading the agitation against a hostel fee hike for three weeks, said the strike would not be called off until their demands are met.

“We got to know that the registrar refused to meet the HRD Ministry-appointed panel to mediate between us and the university. See their high-handedness. When they can refuse to entertain government representatives, how can they be expected to talk to us,” Aishe Ghosh said. There was no immediate response from the registrar or the university administration on the JNUSU allegation.

“The strike will continue till our demands are met and the fee hike is completely rolled back,” Ghosh asserted.

Terming Monday a “historic day” which witnessed protest by students against the fee hike, she said the “police lathi-charge” was “most brutal action” against any protest in the recent past.

“Since Monday morning, police and the ministry were trying to deter us from protesting. The HRD ministry even formed a three-member committee to look into the matter but we were not sent any official notification,” Ghosh said.

She alleged that upon reaching Ber Sarai during the march, police “manhandled and groped” women protestors while detaining them.

Ghosh claimed that even when she was released in the evening, the jeep that escorted them from Delhi Cantonment to Safdarjung Tomb, where their fellow students were sitting in protest, took almost two hours.

“We were made to roam for almost two hours around Bina Market, and were given the excuse that roads are blocked due to traffic but no such thing was there. When I reached near Safdarjung Tomb, the police said, ‘You are late. How can we take your delegation to the ministry’, ” she alleged.

Alleging that police did everything to ensure that they were not able to meet ministry officials, the JNUSU president claimed even after their delegation was formed, police separated them.

Meanwhile, the JNU Teachers’ Association took out a march against “police brutality” in the JNU campus while the RSS-affiliated ABVP withdrew its support to the students’ union protest over fee hike.

JNUSU Demands Inquiry Into Plagiarism Allegations Against Seven Professors

JNU professor Buddha Singh, whose name figures in the complaint, said, “These allegations are baseless and an attempt to destroy the academic environment of the university.”

New Delhi: JNUSU office-bearers Friday submitted complaints to the HRD ministry and the UGC demanding an inquiry into allegations of plagiarism against seven professors of the varsity.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) cited media reports claiming that some professors, holding administrative posts, were accused of plagiarism by some students.

“Some of the accused teachers hold administrative positions in the university and some are part of various committees that decide our academic policies,” the JNUSU said in its complaint.

Also read: Civil Service Rules Will Take Away Our Freedom to Dissent: JNU Faculty

“What was surprising was the complete silence on part of the administration and complete inaction,” it said.

The students’ union has demanded an inquiry against the professors and their suspension from administrative and academic duties.

Also read: Jawaharlal Nehru University – We are Dying, Mr. Vice-Chancellor

JNU professor Buddha Singh, whose name figures in the complaint, said, “These allegations are baseless and an attempt to destroy the academic environment of the university.”

Krishnendra Meena, another professor whose name figures in the complaint, said he had resolved the matter amicably.

“The party concerned was satisfied with my explanation. We have worked it out amicably. The matter was resolved in July and I have also informed the administration,” he said.