Put past behind, says JNU VC as protests spread

Two days after the violence in the campus, JNU vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar, who is under fire over the incident, reached out to the students with the message of “let us put past behind and make a new beginning” even as the protests spread across the country on Tuesday.

JNU alumni, led by CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury, undertook a protest march in solidarity with the students who were targeted during the Sunday evening violence and demanded the removal of Kumar from the vice chancellor's post and rollback of the hostel fee hike.

In the evening, cine actress Deepika Padukone visited JNU campus to express solidarity with the protesting students.

Students and faculty members of the JNU also held a protest outside the university against the violence perpetrated by a large group of masked men on Sunday, demanding the immediate removal of the Kumar from the vice chancellor's post.

“The incident that took place on Sunday was very very unfortunate. Our heart goes out to all our students who got injured in the incident on Sunday. We hope that they will recover fast and they will resume their normal life soon,” the vice-chancellor said at a hurriedly called press conference on the campus.

He also promised that the JNU administration will find “every opportunity” to make sure that normalcy returns to the university's

“Let us make a new beginning. Let us put all the past, whatever has happened, behind. Let us work together to make this university a great university,” he said in an appeal to the students to start registering for the winter semester.

This comes a day after Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry reportedly conveyed it's “displeasure” to the JNU administration with the way it handled the simmering tension in the university, stressing on the need to be “more sensitive” towards the students.

The JNU students, however, rejected the vice chancellor's appeal.

“JNU will see a new beginning when M Jagadesh Kumar will be removed as the vice chancellor and there will be no (hostel) fee hike. We can talk after his removal or resignation,” the JNU students union said in its response.

The students' body also said that Kumar was yet to meet the students and professors of the university who were injured in the January 5 violence.

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Monday issued issued summons to the Delhi Police and the JNU registrar in connection with the violence, seeking report on the sequence of event, all CCTV footage of the incident and other details.

It also sought from police details of all PCR calls made regarding the JNU violence from 2 pm on January 5 till 7 am on January 6 along with an action-taken report on each of the calls.

“The panel wants to know the reasons for not responding to the reports of the violence immediately and reasons for allowing the mob to leave the campus with impunity despite heavy police presence," the DCW said in its notice.