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JNU VC Jagadesh Kumar should be dismissed immediately: Congress fact finding team’s report

On January 5, at least two dozen students suffered injuries after violence erupted inside the varsity campus when several masked individuals, both male and female, thrashed students, including girls, and teachers with wooden and metal rods.

JNU VC Jagadesh Kumar should be dismissed immediately: Congress fact finding team’s report

A general view of a vandalised hostel entrance at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in New Delhi on January 6, 2020. - Authorities deployed riot police at a top New Delhi university on January 6 after a rampage by masked assailants sparked nationwide protests. The attack on students and teachers at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) came as a new challenge to the government that has been battling to put the lid on weeks of protests against a contentious citizenship law. (Photo by Money SHARMA / AFP)

The Congress fact finding team headed by Sushmita Dev, who visited the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and spoke to students to find out the reason behind the January 5 assault in the campus wants the JNU Vice Chancellor to be dismissed and criminal investigation to be initiated against him.

The team said that “Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar should be dismissed immediately and an independent inquiry should be set up to look at all appointments made from 27/01/2016 (date of appointment) till date and all other financial and administrative decisions taken during his tenure should also be investigated.”

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“Criminal investigation must be initiated against the Vice Chancellor, the company that provides security service and members of the faculty who conspired with the attackers to unleash the violence,” said the report.

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The team also sought an independent judicial enquiry to be conducted into the events of January 5 that led to violence on the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Congress fact finding team  submitted a report to the Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

The team also recommended fixing accountability of the Delhi Police Commissioner and other police officials because of their failure to act on the emergency calls by the students and faculty members on January 5 and in light of the “overwhelming” prima facie evidence that they facilitated the criminal elements on campus.

“Immediate rollback of the fee hike as implemented by the university authorities and recognition of JNUSU as an elected body so that proper consultation can take place between the administration and the students on the fee and other issues,” the team said.

Three former student leaders Naseer Hussain, Hibi Eden both MPs and Amrita Dhawan too were a part of the Congress team met on Tuesday at the party office to deliberate on the issue.

The party earlier tweeted before the team’s visit: “40 hours since the violent attacks in JNU and the Delhi Police has failed to arrest a single perpetrator, despite the glaring evidence.

On January 5, at least two dozen students suffered injuries after violence erupted inside the varsity campus when several masked individuals, both male and female, thrashed students, including girls, and teachers with wooden and metal rods.

On Tuesday evening, Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone also visited the varsity campus to express her solidarity with the injured students.

Congress spokesperson Sharmistha Mukherjee had also visited the JNU campus and met the students.

Meanwhile, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) on Saturday criticised the police for allegedly shielding ABVP activists in the January 5 violence. In a media briefing, the JNUSU leaders narrated the sequence of events starting from January 4 in the campus.

“On January 4 at 6 am, a group of students of Botany school saw some guards with masked faces, on which they called the JNUSU leader and its president Aishe Ghosh,” JNUSU leader said.

“When she arrived, one of the guards slapped her and manhandled some other students. Later in the afternoon, some School of International Studies (SIS) faculty, Dean and others manhandled the students,” they said.

Later in the day, a crowd started gathering at the Botanical Sciences school and an SHO was also there, they told.

A union leader further told that when they said that there could be violence, then the police went away saying that they are going to have tea.

“Security personnel disappeared from Sabarmati Hostel on January 4. You can check the attendance register, the guards didn’t sign on January 4 and 5. The hostel president also wrote a letter regarding the lack of security,” said a student.

On the next day, the day of violence, January 5, around 2 pm, many students carrying sticks and other similar implements started gathering at the admin block. They told, “One Muslim student, who was passing by, was made communal threats.”

Around 5.15 p.m, some students assembled near the house of Tapan Bihari, a faculty, who was also carrying a staff.

Students told that during the JNUTA protest, students saw a group of people, including teachers, approaching with sticks in their hands. The teachers formed a human chain to protect students, but the group started throwing stones at them.

They further alleged that the mobs started attacking the rooms of non-ABVP students and specifically targeted northeastern Kashmiri students.

They said that the police was informed about every incident since 3 pm.

The Delhi Police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the violence on Friday identified nine suspects in the case. These nine suspects also involve JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh who suffered serious head injury during the violence.

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