The president, general secretary and joint secretary of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union were suspended from the university’s statutory bodies and committees for “indiscipline” and misbehaviour, PTI reported on Thursday. JNUSU members have alleged that they were heckled by some teachers on June 16 at the Academic Council meeting.
At the meeting, objections were raised by the students and faculty members over a clause that limited the number of MPhil and PhD students a faculty member could guide, IANS reported. The move could reduce the number of seats in JNU for research scholars, it had said.
The university sent suspension letters to Mohit Kumar Pandey, Satarupa Chakraborty and Tabrez Hasan for using “unparliamentary language”, “unruly behaviour” and “unauthorised video-recording” at the Academic Council meeting, PTI reported. JNU administration has also constituted a Proctorial Enquiry Committee to look into the incident.
“True to its dark history, the JNU administration under the leadership of Vice Chancellor Jagadesh Kumar yet again attempted to silence critical voices,” JNUSU said in a statement. The JNU Teachers’ Association has also extended support to the JNUSU and accused the vice chancellor and his team of committing violations. “JNUSU representatives were not allowed to speak even once, and the physical challenges on them by some faculty members were not once rebuked by the chair,” JNUTA president Ayesha Kidwai said in a release.
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