JNU cancels webinar on Kashmir after a section of teachers, students protests

The varsity’s press statement said, “The notice of the webinar says, ‘This talk will draw and build upon the ethnography of… gendered resistance to Indian occupation in Kashmir.’ This is a highly objectionable and a provocative subject, which questions the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country”

The Jawaharlal Nehru University on Friday night cancelled an online webinar on the situation in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 amid protests by a section of teachers and students.

A file photo of the varsity’s administrative building. The statement was released after a faction of JNU teachers and students, under the banner of JNU Teacher’s Forum (JNUTF) objected to the event. (Representational image/HT Archive)

“As soon as it came to our notice that an online webinar titled ‘Gendered Resistance and Fresh Challenges in Post-2019 Kashmir’ was going to be organised at 8.30pm today [Friday] by Centre for Women’s Studies, JNU, the JNU administration immediately instructed the faculty member organising the event to cancel it,” JNU vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar said in a press statement issued late Friday night.

The press statement added: “The notice of the webinar says, ‘This talk will draw and build upon the ethnography of… gendered resistance to Indian occupation in Kashmir.’ This is a highly objectionable and provocative subject, which questions the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country. JNU cannot be a platform for this kind of very questionable webinar. The matter is being inquired into.”

Kumar also said the faculty member did not seek the permission of the administration before planning such an event.

The statement was released after a faction of JNU teachers and students, under the banner of JNU Teacher’s Forum (JNUTF) objected to the event. “A webinar in JNU declares ‘Indian occupation in Kashmir’. JNUTF strongly opposes such an anti-national stand taken by the Centre for Women’s Studies. JNU must take action against those involved in organising it,” JNUTF said in a statement four hours before the administration announced the cancellation.

The students’ outfit Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad also objected to the seminar. Shivam Chaurasia, president ABVP-JNU, said they demanded that the administration stop this webinar as “it undermines the integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of India and the Constitution of India.”

The group also demanded severe action against those who were a part of the organising team of this webinar.