JNU orders students’ union to vacate office

After the order, the students’ union members staged a sit in protest outside the JNUSU room while the JNU authorities said the new union was yet to be notified by the administration.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration on Wednesday ordered the students’ union office to be locked down and told the newly appointed student leaders to vacate the office by evening, triggering protests by the union members.

It has been reported that the administration had not notified the last students’ union too but members were not asked to vacate their office. Image used for representation. (Ht photo)

As the students’ union members staged a sit in protest outside the JNUSU room, the university administration had not locked down the office by late Wednesday evening. In support of its order, the JNU authorities said the new union was yet to be notified by the administration.

In a notice issued late on Tuesday night, JNU Dean of Students (DoS) Umesh Kadam said the students’ union was not notified last year due to non-compliance with the Lyngdoh Committee Report (LCR) and the matter is sub-judice. He said the newly elected union is yet to be notified.

“To prevent misuse of property, it is decided by the Competent Authority of the University that the said room shall be locked immediately and the same may be handed over to the JNUSU after notification of the same. Therefore, it is directed to all concerned to vacate the room on or before 5:30 pm on October 16, 2019, failing which the concerned authority of the university will double lock the said room,” said Kadam in the notice.

The administration had not notified the last students’ union too but members were not asked to vacate their office.

According to the JNUSU members, this is the first time in the history of the university that a students’ union was asked to vacate the office. In a statement, JNUSU president Aishe Gosh said, “The JNUSU room belongs to 8,500 students and the administration is not in any authority to close down our spaces. The JNU administration has one by one snatched away our public spaces for democratic debate and dissent, be it our Dhabas, or the mess halls. The JNUSU office has become one of the last spaces where we can organise our meetings and discussions.”

Despite several attempts Kadam did not respond to calls and texts sent for a comment.

A senior university official, requesting anonymity, said, “The students’ union results were announced arbitrarily by the election committee this year. The election committee has submitted the results with dean of students’ office in a sealed envelope following a stay from the high court on disclosing the results. However, when the court had lifted the stay, the election committee did take the submitted result back from the authority and announced it. We have already issued notices to the committee over this violation.”