JNUSU general secretary Satarupa Chakrabarty said signatures would be collected till students return to campus after their holidays in January, following which the protest would be intensified
Just days after the JNU administration installed iron grills at Freedom Square, students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) through tit’s union, the JNUSU, have begun collecting signatures for a petition asking the vice-chancellor to remove the “hideous grills” by December 19 and “restore space for protests”.
They’ve also said there is “no reason” why he should not face protests like the other 11 VCs before him. The decision to collect signatures was taken at an all-organisations’ meeting on Tuesday, December 13. JNUSU general secretary Satarupa Chakrabarty told the media signatures would be collected till students return to campus after their holidays in January, following which the mode of resistance will be decided.
“We, the undersigned members of the JNU community, note with utter shock and resentment, the repeated attempts by the JNU administration to clampdown on protests and criminalise democratic struggles. In its latest attempt to curb protests, the University authority surreptitiously grilled the front of the Administration Block on the night of 12/12/16 and subsequently covered the adjoining areas with flower pots,” reads the letter addressed to V-C M Jagadesh Kumar.”
“JNU has historically rejected tyranny of any form and we shall not tolerate the highhandedness of your administration too. We once again request you to immediately remove those hideous grills from the Administrative Block, latest by 19 December 5:00 PM and restore the space for protests and programmes,” it further reads.
Arguing that the “university is accountable to its students, teachers, staffs, karamcharis and workers”, the students said that “members of the campus community are fully within their rights to protest around the Administra-tion Block where the members of administration are present”.
“Sir, let us also remind you that there have been 11 V-Cs who had assumed office before you and each and every one of them have faced protests and dissent in the past. There is absolutely no reason why you should exceptionalise yourself and not face protests or questions from your own campus community,” the letter reads.