Shehla Rashid, student groups condemn academic suspension of JNUSU leaders and student activists

Shehla Rashid, former JNUSU Vice President and current General Secretary of the Jammu & Kashmir People's Movement has condemned the academic suspensions of various students activists on campus. The list includes JNU Students' Union President N Sai Balaji, former President Geeta Kumari, present Joint Secretary Amutha Jayadeep, present Vice-President Sarika Chaudhary, student activist Kaushik Raj and others.

"The JNU Administration has made a mockery of the JNUEE. For the first time, the exam was outsourced to a testing agency - an exercise that failed miserably leading to a 6 month delay in the exam. In a move that is highly discriminatory, Srinagar did not get a single examination centre. Many of the questions in the newly introduced objective type examination were ambiguous, or simply wrong. Students had to pay Rs. 1,000 per question in order to challenge the answers in the key. To add insult to injury, there have even been allegations of paper leak. The student activists are being suspended for questioning these malpractices," Rashid said in a statement.

Applauding the students for standing up for idealism, the former JNUSU Vice President said, "JNU community is proud of its student leaders. It is a shame that ABVP hooligans who are often responsible for violence on campus are spared, while disciplined student activists are punished because they do not agree with the policies of the ruling government. By not allowing the suspended students to register, the JNU Administration is exposing itself in the international academic community."

The All India Students Association also condemned the suspensions and called the move dandgerous and vindictive. "Their crime is to relentlessly expose and resist anti student policies of Modi government imposed through VC’s like Mamidala Jagedesh Kumar. Be it the online entrance examination scam, massive 80% budget cut of JNU library, massive fund cuts for research and education, fighting against scuttling of reservation and decimation of social justice and numerous such anti student policies," the student group said in their statement.

The statement, signed by the National President, Sucheta De and the National General Secretary, Sandeep Saurav, also said that the AISA is being harassed throught enquiries for participating in contract workers march demanding equal pay for equal work, "AISA sees this as nothing but an attack of vindictiveness and demands that JNU VC must roll back the illegally imposed academic suspension immediately. AISA condemns the harassment of JNUSU office bearers, AISA activists and other student activists through Chief Proctor’s office."