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JNU students end 17-day hunger strike as committee promises to look into demands
The revocation of rustication of the JNUSU office bearers, including the president, was among the key demands of the students.
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Members of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) ended their 17-day hunger strike on Tuesday. The development came after meetings between student representative and a committee headed by the university's dean.
The Vice-Chancellor has also directed the revocation of the rustication of five students with immediate effect. The revocation of rustication of the JNUSU office bearers, including the president, was among the key demands of the students.
The students named in the notice are - Aditi Mishra, K Gopika Babu, Sunil Yadav, Danish Ali and Nitish Kumar.
Here are 5 key things discussed in the meeting between students and the university committee:
- All FIRs against the students will be withdrawn.
- A committee including a student representative from JNUSU office bearers and an elected member will be constituted to review the contentious clauses and purge them.
- A committee will be formed with a JNUSU office-bearer representative on JNUEE.
- Committee on hostel reservation will be constituted with representatives from JNUSU office bearers.
- After visiting, proctorial enquiries which were initiated during the anti-rustication and UGC regulations protest and the hostel infrastructure protest will be withdrawn.
Apart from this, discussions on hostel reservations and their structuring, library timings and opening of a canteen in CSLG were also held.
What were the students' demands?
JNUSU members were demanding the reinstatement of rusticated office bearers. According to news agency PTI, the student union argued that it is an elected representative body with a mandate from around 9,000 students, and not merely a students' group. Its representatives have been elected through independent election committees and notified by the office of the dean of students, it said.
The union reportedly also alleged corruption in university recruitment and questioned the administration's commitment to protecting taxpayers' money.
V-C says authority wanted to meet students
On Monday, Vice-Chancellor (V-C) Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit said that a competent authority was willing to meet protesting students at 8.50 am on October 16 but no one was present on the site.
However, the students countered the claim, questioning the V-C's visit to the protest site at 9 am, saying it was aimed at creating a narrative that only a few students were participating in the agitation.
While JNUSU claimed that its rusticated office-bearers were denied medical check-ups during the hunger strike, the V-C said the administration has been "most democratic and humanitarian", and has not taken any action against the rusticated students, despite destruction of "public property worth ₹20 lakh".
(With PTI inputs)
