Screening film peacefully not a crime, says JNU VC

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) vice-chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit on Tuesday said that “everyone on the campus” has a voice and the right to expression as guaranteed by the Constitution -- comments that came in the backdrop of allegations by the JNU students that the varsity did not allow the screening of a BBC documentary on 2002 Gujarat riots

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) vice-chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit on Tuesday said that “everyone on the campus” has a voice and the right to expression as guaranteed by the Constitution -- comments that came in the backdrop of allegations by the JNU students that the varsity did not allow the screening of a BBC documentary on 2002 Gujarat riots.

JNU Vice-Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit said that if some individuals did not like a programme, they could skip it, but they could not prevent others from holding their programme. (ANI)

Pandit said that if some individuals did not like a programme, they could skip it, but they could not prevent others from holding their programme. She added that peaceful protest on campus was appreciated.

“I have brought the campus to a situation where everyone has a right to say what they want. If you don’t want to attend a programme, don’t go there. But you cannot prevent a law-abiding Indian citizen from holding a programme,” said Pandit on Tuesday as she completed one year since she took charge as the first woman vice-chancellor of the central university.

Advocating co-existence of diverse voices, she said that the campus offered space for dissent. “India is a diverse country and dissent is part of our civilisation. Let people have an opinion. JNU should lead the way. In the issue of the BBC documentary, I had the support of students and faculty who understood this. We have come a long way,” said Pandit.

On January 23, JNU students union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh announced plans to screen the documentary ‘India: The Modi Question’ at the JNUSU office on campus. However, in an official circular, JNU administration “advised” the students union to cancel the screening and warned that “strict disciplinary action” will be taken since permission for the event was not taken. On January 24, the screening was disrupted due to a power outage with students blaming the administration, a charge denied by the university authorities.

When asked why JNU had not taken any action against students, Pandit said that students had not committed any crime. “My students did not do anything wrong. Protest is their right. They didn’t do anything that is illegal. Why should I arrest them or take any action? Democracy is all about this. As long as they are within their rights and protest peacefully, I appreciate it,” said Pandit.

Delhi University had set up a seven-member committee for maintenance of law and order after protests erupted on campus as students attempted to screen the BBC documentary.

The central government has rejected the documentary as “propaganda” and a reflection of a “colonial mindset.” Speaking on condition of anonymity, officials last month said that the Centre ordered YouTube to take down copies of the documentary and asked Twitter to remove posts connected to it as the administration believes that the series poses a threat to the country’s sovereignty and public order.

Pandit said that the university had a space for people following different ideologies, and the past year had been a “healing period” for the campus. “My success is because of my students and faculty. This has been a healing period for all of us. Trust is being restored and we are back to academics and research,” said Pandit, a JNU alumna herself. She said the university had signed an agreement with Springer Nature to publish books by JNU faculty.

The varsity on Tuesday also released a report recapping the various achievements of the university in the past year. The report, issued by JNU registrar Ravikesh, said that the campus had made progress in faculty recruitment and establishing gender representation. The number of administrative positions held by women has gone up from 19 a year ago to 38 now, it said.

The university also applied to be recognized as the Institute of Eminence in October, introduced 9 new programmes, and approved the setting up of a special Centre for Tamil Studies. After eight years, the university also initiated the long pending recruitment of 400 non-teaching employees, said the registrar.

Synchronization of the disrupted academic calendar, completion of PhD submissions delayed due to Covid, infrastructure modernisation and expansion, and scaling up of the University-Corpus fund from 50 crores to 250 crores are among the various goals that the Jawaharlal Nehru University administration hopes to achieve going ahead, said the registrar.