Three scientists, a technocrat and an academic on Friday denied that they had endorsed a statement the Jawaharlal Nehru University administration released condemning the students’ agitation against compulsory attendance, The Telegraph reported.
Indian geneticist MS Swaminathan, known for pioneering the Green Revolution, nuclear scientist Anil Kakodkar, former Indian Institute of Science Director Goverdhen Mehta, former Delhi Metro Managing Director E Sreedharan and Indian Institute of Mass Communication Director-General KG Suresh said they had not endorsed the university’s statement.
“This is the first time I am hearing about the statement,” Swaminathan said. “Nobody approached me. It is a bizarre statement.”
Former Indian Space Research Organisation Chairperson G Madhavan Nair, who has endorsed the statement, said it was issued at the instance of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s Vijnana Bharati Front, of which Nair is a patron. Kakodkar, who is also a backer of Vijnana Bharati, said, “I have not signed any such statement.”
Mehta said he had received an email from the JNU administration but did not respond.
“To imagine that students had to clear a very competitive entrance examinatioto earn the so-called ‘right’ not to attend classes makes no sense,” the statement reads. “We therefore condemn the campaign by a few students against the minimum requirement of attendance in JNU.”
“We also hope that, under the current leadership, there will be a swift revival of academic sessions in the path deemed for the overall goodness of the entire student community of JNU.”
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