There's never an uneventful day at JNU. Even as the Academic Council meeting is underway at the rocky government-run varsity, videos from inside suggest that 'meeting' isn't possibly the best word to use to describe the proccedings.
This is a video posted by JNUSU President Mohit K Pandey, from inside the auditorium where the meeting is taking place.
The meeting began at 2 pm and as soon as it started, the contentious issue of minutes from the previous academic council meeting being manipulated was raised — and things went downhill from there. Mohit Pandey, who posted the video on Facebook, said, "We were immediately asked to leave and though we said that we are officially elected members and had a right to be there, teachers who are supporting the VC caught me by the collar and tried to hit me."
It may be recalled that there was a huge protest in December 2016, when JNUSU accused the VC of manipulating crucial items on the agenda — relating to admission norms for MPhil/PhD scholars and many more UGC regulations — to pass them despite there ebing no discussion or agreement in the council. This was to be the cornerstone of Friday's meeting, but it apparently never came to pass.
Things never quietened down after that, with teachers — the one who are pro-VC and not-so-pro-VC M Jagadesh Kumar — locked horns. And how. "Neither the teachers nor the JNUSU were allowed to dissent or raise any queries as the VC just kept saying 'Pass...Pass...Pass' for every item on the agenda. So we came out in protest and told the students what was happening before we went back in and tried to make some sense of things," he added.
According to the JNUSU, the VC ignored them and continued to ratify all the items on the agenda in the face of loud shouting, abrasive even, and at 3 pm, he got up and left. Meeting concluded. Neither the VC nor the JNU administration havemade an official comment yet, though the standard release announcing the passing of resolutions is expected soon.
