JNU professor gets notice for addressing protesting students

The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) issued a notice to one of its faculty members on Friday for addressing a students’ protest at the varsity administration block on Wednesday. The students were agitating against the recent suspension of eight students for “disrupting an Academic Council meeting”.

In the notice issued to Nivedita Menon, Professor at the School of International Studies, the administration warned her to not hold public meetings with students. “You addressed a group of students on December 28, 2016, at 4.15pm, near the steps of the administration building. This is a clear violation of the university rules, which say that all forms of coercion such as gheraos, sit-ins or any other variation of the same, which disturb the normal functioning of academic and administrative functioning of the university, are prohibited,” read the notice. “...Peaceful and democratic forms of protests shall be conducted at a distance of 20m away from the administrative and academic complexes,” it added.

Terming it an attempt to curb her Constitutional right to protest, Menon said that neither she nor any other teacher at JNU will accept it. “I do not accept, as a teacher of JNU, that addressing our students anywhere on the campus is against any rules. If this administration is so concerned about rules, it should consider with shame its own conduct at the recent Academic Council meeting, which violated every formal procedure,” she said.

JNU has been at loggerheads with its students over holdings protests at the varsity’s administration block. Earlier this month, the space outside the block, popularly known as Freedom Square, was barricaded with iron grill.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, varsity students led by the students’ union staged a protest at the administration block and demanded revoking of suspension of eight students for “disrupting” the Academic Council meeting held on Monday.

Also, several members of the Academic Council attended the protest and wrote to Vice-Chancellor Jagadesh Kumar, demanding that the 142nd Academic Council be reconvened, arguing that it was held during the winter break, when many members were not present.