‘Deal with JNU student strike as political problem’

Bengaluru South Lok Sabha member Tejasvi Surya has said that Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi had become a “symbol of all that is bad,” and the varsity needs to be restructured.

“During the session, under Rule 377 I had sought that Jawaharlal Nehru University be restructured in a manner similar to revival of sick public sector undertakings,” Surya said here on Saturday. He was speaking in a panel discussion on “JNU: What is right in the left” organised on the second day of the Mangaluru Lit Fest.

The MP said that the government was spending Rs 6.95 lakh per student of JNU. “Due to cross-subsidisation, a student is paying around Rs 300 as annual tuition fee. The hostel facilities which include free Wifi did not exceed Rs 2,000 per month. “Eighty-nine per cent of students staying in the hostel receive scholarships in the range of Rs 2,000 to Rs 40,000,” he said.

He said that fee hike was not the reason for JNU shutdown. “The primary motto was to fight against the BJP government. It is a political campaign and not a student activism. Handling the strike with kids glove will not work. It should be dealt like a political problem - similar to the massive crackdown on separatists in Kashmir,” he emphasised.