The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) has expressed solidarity with the 48 JNU teachers who were charged for a protest organised on July 31, 2018. The students also demanded that the charges should be dropped immediately. The teachers were charged under Rule 14 of the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control, and Appeal) Rules 1965 and sections of the CCS (Conduct) Rules 1964, the JNU Act, the JNU Rules and Regulations and directions of the High Court of Delhi prohibiting protests within 100m of the administrative block and academic complexes. The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association, JNUTA, stand with the accused teachers as well.
The teachers' association said that they were outraged and condemned the act of "framing the charge sheets". They also said that the teachers have been "selectively and vindictively" targeted by the administration "for raising their voices against the misdeeds and mismanagement of the University. "Far from being an act to disrupt the academic life of the university or bring disrepute to it, the JNUTA protest was a call in defence of the JNU Act, Statutes and Ordinances," said Atul Sood, President, JNUTA.
The JNUTA said that their protest on July 31, last year, was called in response to the "repeated violations of the JNU Act and Statues, the bypassing of academic deliberative procedures, violations of reservation policy, arbitrary removal and appointment of chairpersons and Deans, the tripartite MOU with the UGC and MHRD, the proposed HEFA loan, the arbitrary enforcing of attendance, misrepresentation of the proceedings of Academic and Executive Council meetings, harassment and selected targeting of teachers, Skype vivas for MPhil and PhD, and the draft IPR policy byVice Chancellor Dr M Jagadesh Kumar and his administration".
Speaking about CCS, the JNUSU wrote in their statement — "We demand that the charge sheets issued to the JNU faculty be withdrawn, and the attempt to impose CCS rules on college and university teachers across the country be halted forthwith."
