New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar on Monday appealed to students to maintain peace, even as the students union demanded his scalp over the violent incidents on the campus last evening.
News agency PTI reported that the university has sent a detailed report to the Ministry of Human Resource and Development. Higher Education Secretary (Amit Khare) has called a meeting of the registrar, proctor and the rector at his office. Union Home Minister Amit Shah also spoke to Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal and asked him to hold talks with the university administration.
Delhi Police, which is probing the incident, has reportedly identified some of the masked assailants who were involved in the bedlam. Pictures of men brandishing iron rods, sledgehammers and stones on the university corridors are being analysed by the police for other leads, some media reports said.
“I would like to appeal to all students to maintain peace. The university stands by all students to facilitate their pursuit of academic activities. We will ensure that their winter semester registration will take place without any hindrance,” the VC said in a statement.
President of JNU Students Union Aishe Ghosh, who sustained head injuries in the attack by unknown masked miscreants, demanded the VC’s resignation, holding him squarely responsible for the incident. “Vice-Chancellor should immediately resign”, she told NDTV.
The students are slated to take out a march inside the campus this afternoon. Sabarmati Hostel senior warden R Meena is believed to have resigned after last night’s incident. The number of injured students in the attacks is reported to have crossed 30. Around 18 of them, including Ghosh, were admitted to the AIIMS trauma unit.
“The Vice-Chancellor is a cowardly VC who introduces illegal policies through the backdoor, runs away from questions of students or teachers and then manufactures a situation to demonise JNU. For nearly seven days now, the students of JNU have been fighting a courageous battle to save their university from the clutches of privatisation and greed. The VC is adamant that by sending a message that a fee hike has happened in JNU, he can prove that accessible education is not possible,” the students union said in a statement.