Students and professors of the Cente for Historical Studies (CHS) at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) observed a complete lockdown after the Vice Chancellor arbitrarily replaced the chairperson Dr Sucheta Mahajan ahead of the completion of her tenure. Similar notices were issued to seven other departments the previous Wednesday, inciting severe resentment among the students and the teaching fraternity. The notice states that Professor Mahajan shall be replaced by a comparatively-inexperienced Dr Umesh Ashok Kadam without stating any reason for the transfer.
Students allege the arbitrary ‘farmaan’ is in the wake of the non-compliance to the attendance regulation exhibited by the teachers. On March 15, around 70 students of CHS staged a sit-in outside Kadam’s office asking him to reject the appointment and attendance regulation. As part of their civil disobedience movement, they boycotted classes and locked Kadam’s office until he spoke to the resenting students.
A video posted by Professor Rajat Dutta (CHS) on Facebook shows the students being manhandled by security officials for the stage-in that obstructed Kadam from entering his office. As per eyewitnesses, several students were injured, but Kadam was unaffected. “He even asked the guards to trample over the students if required, and get him through to his office”, states Saib Bilawal, a CHS student, who’s taking part in the ongoing protest.
Chairpersons at JNU have a 2-year tenure. They are appointed according to their seniority (the time spent in JNU, that is). Professor Mahajan was appointed Chairperson in June 2017. In less than a year of holding office, the Vice Chancellor replaced her with Professor Umesh Kadam.
“The (Department) Chairperson’s job at JNU is very demanding. Organising seminars, teaching and research for Masters, M.Phil and PhD students, and keeping up with the affiliations with international universities. It requires one to be experienced and be well-versed with the know-how,” states Aman Sinha, a Masters student at CHS. The students further allege that Kadam’s proximity to the Vice Chancellor and branding the students agitating against the attendance regulation as ‘anti-nationalists’ helped him obtain the appointment. “Chairpersons do not get their students attacked or refuse to speak to their colleagues. Kadam was never open to dialogue”, stated another student of the CHS.
As per JNU norms, the ‘tough’ positions are not accorded to individuals holding an alternate administrative post – whereas Kadam is already serving as the Dean of the students, reveals CHS student Saim Bilawal.
Professor Sucheta Mahajan informed the New Indian Express on March 15 that the decision was taken in a jiffy and without any consultation. “It happened in a manner where the Executive Committee gave power to the Vice-Chancellor to make a decision overnight,” she stated. Apart from the CHS, seven other departments had their chairpersons arbitrarily replaced overnight. Some of them involve procedural violations. For example, the Dean of School of Arts and Aesthetics, Kavita Singh, was replaced by Mazhar Asif, a professor of the Centre for Persian and Asian Studies. Similarly, the chairperson of the French department was replaced by a professor from the Spanish department.
JNU is teeming with several issues right now. Atul Johri, a professor in the School of Life Sciences, was booked on charges of sexual harassment earlier this week. In this troubled environment, the VC put forth the unreasonable notice. The teaching fraternity and students cite this as the unfolding of yet another chapter of suppressing dissent against the mandatory attendance regulation. “We have to do something about the attendance regulation this year itself. If the regulation gets listed in the admission prospectus next year, it would become a binding contract”, stated Bilawal.
CHS students aim to continue with the lockdown until March 21, 2018. They look to strengthening the movement by blocking roads in case Professor Kadam continues with the no-show.