JNU VC 'mastermind' of attack: Cong fact-finding team

A Congress fact-finding team in the violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Sunday alleged that Vice-Chancellor, M Jagadesh Kumar was the 'mastermind of the horrific attack on the varsity and demanded his immediate ouster.

The four-member team, led by Mahila Congress President Sushmita Dev, also claimed that the violence at the JNU on Sunday last was “state-sponsored” and sought an independent judicial inquiry into the turn of events at the varsity last Sunday.

“Vice-Chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar should be dismissed immediately and an independent inquiry should be set up to look at all appointments made from 27/01/2016 (date of appointment) till date and all other financial and administrative decisions taken during his tenure should also be investigated,” said the report submitted by the team to Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday evening.

Addressing a press conference here, Dev and the other team members called for a criminal investigation against the Vice-Chancellor, the company that provided security and members of the faculty who allegedly conspired with the attackers to unleash the violence.

“He seems to be the ‘mastermind’ behind the incident,” the report said, claiming that he had “meticulously infiltrated” the university and “promoted” only those who “would be compliant to him and had their inclination to right-wing ideology.”

The fact-finding team, comprising Dev, Rajya Sabha member Syed Nasir Hussain, Lok Sabha member Hibi Eden and former Delhi University President Amrita Dhawan, had visited JNU over the past few days and put together a report after interaction with the students and teachers.

The team said Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks on the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)-National Register of Citizens (NRC) agitation and punishing the “tukde-tukde gang” also emboldened the perpetrators of violence on the JNU campus.

The team also recommended fixing accountability of the Delhi Police Commissioner and other police officials because of their alleged failure to act on the emergency calls by the students and faculty members on January 5 and in light of the "overwhelming" prima facie evidence that they facilitated the criminal elements on campus.

The team also demanded immediate rollback of the fee hike as implemented by the university authorities and recognition of JNU Students’ Union as an elected body so that proper consultation can take place between the administration and the students on the fee and other issues.