JNU sends show-cause notice to students who burnt Modi’s effigy

NEW DELHI: Jawaharlal Nehru University has ordered a probe into the effigy burning incident on Dussehra night.

NEW DELHI: Jawaharlal Nehru University has ordered a probe into the effigy burning incident on Dussehra night.

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Members of the Congress backed National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) burned effigies of Modi BJP chief chief Amit Shah, Nathuram Godse and others that day, to mark the ‘win of truth over falsehood.’

“We have ordered an inquiry into the incident. The chief proctor will look into the case to see if any rules were flouted,” a university official said, on Thursday.

“It has come to our notice that on October 11, 2016, between 7.45 pm and 8.20 pm, an effigy burning protest was held at near Sabarmati dhaba without prior permission,” the show-cause notice sent to a student said.

NSUI said though it denounces the effigy burning, it supports the intention behind the protest by its JNU unit. “Although this act does not find a place in the NSUI code of conduct, it is completely democratic and acceptable,” it said in a statement.

Sunny Dhiman, an NSUI member and one of the students who participated in the effigy burning said:“We celebrated the victory of truth over untruth.”

The move comes nearly a week after the varsity ordered a proctorial inquiry into the burning of effigy of the Gujarat government and ‘gau-rakshak’ (cow vigilantes) and issued show-cause notices to the students concerned.

“There are communities who worship Ram but there are Adivasi communities who worship Ravan. So, for us it was not Ravan or Ram but a symbol of the win of truth over falsehood,” Diman said.

“Effigy burning has existed in JNU for a really long time. Parties such as the ABVP and the AISA have burned effigies of former PM Manmohan Singh but it never invited a show-cause notice,” he said. “Students routinely burnt effigies of leaders earlier also to protest but now the administration sends notices at the drop of hat,” he added.

“The effigy-burning was to symbolise our dissatisfaction with the government. The idea is to root out evil from governance and bring about a system that is pro-people,” said Diman, who was NSUI’s presidential candidate in the 2016 students’ polls.

He also said no prior permission is required for effigy burning. “You need permission for holding public talks but not for effigy burning,” he said.