A large number of students across the centres and schools in JNU observed a university-wide strike demanding the immediate conduct of JNUSU election, and accused the administration of trying to dismantle the students’ body.
The students protested on Wednesday, and said that they were protesting against the administration’s attempts to dismantle the institution of JNUSU.
JNUSU president Aishe Gosh said that students boycotted their classes and joined the protest gathering called by JNUSU at the SL-SIS Lawns. The overwhelming participation of students across centres and schools in the protest and the success of our strike is a testament to the collective strength, resilience, and commitment of the JNU student body.
The JNUSU elections were last held in 2019. Fresh JNUSU Elections have not been notified by the JNU Administration since then, initially citing the Covid-19 pandemic.
A JNUSU representative said that while in the current semester, elections are being denied citing the need for PhD admissions, in the last semester, the JNU Admin refused to conduct the election despite the completion of the PhD admission process. It is a complete failure of the JNU Administration that they have failed to restore timely admissions for the students to JNU.
Aishe said that JNU has still not announced a set date and deadline for PhD admissions. In Delhi University, the elections for DUSU were held recently, however, JNU students were being deprived of the same right.
By now, many elected representatives of the 2019 JNUSU are no longer students of the university, thereby leaving our student body without a duly elected representation, she added.
Earlier JNUSU had called for a University General Body Meeting (UGBM) of students on September 18. The UGBM is the highest decision-making body of JNU students. The issue of staggered admissions was discussed in detail by students. A massive UGBM of students passed several resolutions demanding immediate JNUSU elections that were duly submitted to the Vice-Chancellor on September 26, the JNUSU representatives said.