The Jawaharlal Nehru Students’ Union (JNUSU) on Tuesday demanded that the university form a panel led by a retired Supreme Court judge to investigate the clash between two groups of students on April 10, allegedly over serving non-vegetarian food. in the dining room. Authorities at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) have claimed that the violence took place after some students objected to a “hawan” on Ram Navami, a claim also made by RSS partner ABVP.
The JNUSU also asked the university to withdraw its April 11 statement saying the clashes broke out after some students objected to a “hawan.” At least 20 students were injured.
A student union delegation also tried to meet with JNU Vice-Chancellor Shantishree Dhulipudi Pandit on Tuesday about their demands, but were unsuccessful. The security guards asked the students to send a letter to make an appointment with the VC, union members said.
The union noted that the violence in Kaveri Hostel stems from the arbitrary demand for a ban on non-vegetarian meals in the hostel mess by a group of students, and said this was confirmed by the relevant hostel as well as members of the mess committee. †
“However, the same students who made this demand and violently disrupted the functioning of the mess, and who have also been associated with the ABVP, have resorted to spreading a story of disruption of ‘hawan’ in the hostel building, a claim which is not supported by the hostel or mess committee,” the student union said in a statement.
“The commission should call for all testimony and evidence to be collected, meet with the injured parties and release the report and recommendations to the public in a time-bound manner. It has been increasingly observed that the prevalence of politically motivated violence on campus is becoming the norm rather than the exception,” the JNUSU statement said.
The union said that for the campus to keep the peace, the JNU administration must be ready to take action according to the university’s rules and regulations. “Furthermore, the JNU administration needs to engage in a dialogue with all stakeholders, including elected representatives of the student and teacher communities, to resolve the issue,” they said.
National President of the All India Students’ Association (AISA), N Sai Balaji, said they also came to the vice-chancellor’s office at 2 p.m. but there was no one to meet them. “The VC says it is always open to dialogue. The VC to address the students’ problems is lacking in action,” he said.
Balaji said they want an independent judicial inquiry into the ABVP violence. “The government has completely failed in its effort to end the violence. Also in the previous incidents, the ABVP perpetrators were always protected. Yesterday, the JNU administrator released two notes – one for internal use (students) and one for external (public). “The notes were nothing but a replica of the ABVP press release. We demand that the administration retract the press releases, present the facts and take action against ABVP students,” he said.
Meanwhile, JNU mess’s meat seller has said that some students have called him and said that chicken is not allowed to be delivered to the varsity’s Kaveri Hostel mess on Ram Navami, claimed Afzal Ahmed, who has been supplying meat for nearly three decades.
– with inputs from PTI
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