Jawaharlal Nehru university (JNU)'s vice-chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit on Wednesday said that the university is a place of Saraswati and therefore, students should study instead of indulging in violence as its not a wrestling arena or a political sphere. In an interview to Times of India, Dhulipudi said that the university has no issues with personal choices of students and that they can eat and wear whatever they wish to. She also termed campus violence on April 10 an 'unfortunate incident' .
Key Points |
1. "JNU is a place of Saraswati - please study, academically debate and academically fight. This is not a sphere for politics," VC Dhulipudi said, referring to the violence in the university campus. She further said that the university is not a sphere for politics, if students want to do politics they can go to contest elections, the university will not help in making their political career.
2. Recalling that the external affairs minister, finance minister and many IAS officers hail from JNU, the VC advised students "to be an intellectual first and be a leader at that level". She also said that 95% of JNU students are serving the country. "I agree we have 5% also because we are greatly visible and whatever we do, it is reported but I think we have given the best minds also," she added.
3. It's not just JNU but every university has some fanatic elements and hence the tukde- tukde narrative should not be run, the VC said.
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4. Over the issue of Ram Navami pooja violence and the freedom in JNU, the VC said "JNU is the freeest place in India, It is the mess committee that decides what food will be made. In 16 hostels, nothing happened and non-vegetarian food was there but I want to ask why did such a problem arise only in one hostel? Both the iftaar party and the havan were happening at the same place and the former had been going on for a week. So why this objection regarding Ram Navami? I have also been told that objection was by some other people but these are are all interpretations. I have directed for a proctoral inquiry and only after that we will be able to ascertain the facts."
5. Terming the violence as a pre-planned attack, Pandit said that JNU administration has zero tolerance for violence. She asserted that the administration will take strict action against those involved in violence.
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6. On April 10 during Ram Navami, two groups of students had a clash at the Kaveri hostel in JNU. The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) blamed the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members for restricting students from eating non-vegetarian food in the hostel and created a violent atmosphere. Denying the allegations, the ABVP claimed that the leftists were creating obstruction to the puja programme that was oraganised at the Kaveri hostel.
