Prayer ceremony halted in JNU hostel, students divided

Trouble started in Jawaharlal Nehru University after hostel wardens stopped students from performing prayer last week.

Students led by ABVP on Monday approached JNU Vice-Chancellor S K Sopory against the Jhelum Hostel wardens and alleged that their intervention was politically motivated. The student party has also threatened to go on a strike if the varsity administration falls short of taking a timely action.

Hostel wardens stoked a controversy on November 21 after they asked a congregation to disperse from a hostel room where they were performing a havan. According to an eyewitness, the wardens decided to intervene following complaints received from other hostel inmates.

“I organised a puja on my birthday. There was mantra-chanting and havan. Almost 15-20 students, all of whom were hostel inmates or JNU students, participated in the puja,” said Jitendra, an MPhil student in Sanskrit Studies.

He alleged that one of the wardens entered his room without taking off his shoes. “Disrespecting religion is not part of the JNU culture,” a student said.

Kuldeep, another hostel resident, claimed that the mantra-chanting was loud enough to create problem for others.

He went on to question the need of such ceremony, “Is this part of academic activities?”
Hostel wardens, however, said it was the risk of fire hazard prompted them to take this decision. “When I reached, I saw that they had removed all the furniture from the room and were chanting slokas, and a fire was lit for havan.

“Our main concern was the fire. There were over 25 students huddled in that small 8x8 sq ft room. We asked them to disperse and involved the hostel security staff,” Ashutosh Anand, one of the hostel wardens, said.

According to JNU Students’ Union Joint Secretary and ABVP leader Saurabh Kumar Sharma, an FIR has been lodged at the local Vasant Vihar police station.

“This is not the first time communists have tried to attack us. We have decided to call for a university strike if no action is taken,” he said.

“How can one stop someone from practicing his religion?” he added.But Anand cited hostel rules and said such congregations are not allowed without prior approval of the authorities.