The Jawaharlal Nehru University administration accused students of gatecrashing the Inter Hostel Administration (IHA) meeting and not allowing Dean of Students Dr Umesh Kadam access to medical attention after he fell ill during the altercation. The JNU Students' Union has denied all allegations accusing the administration of "overtly lying" about the incident.
A statement released by the Registrar Dr Pramod Kumar said that some students who were not meant to be at the IHA meeting 'disrupted' the meeting by forcibly entering the venue. "In this raucous atmosphere the Dean of Students, Prof Umesh Kadam, fell sick with alarmingly high blood pressure. But what was most shocking was complete heartlessness and insensitivity displayed by the students; they did not allow the ambulance to move towards the hospital," said the Registrar. "The situation of the Dean was getting worse; even his wife and two children were seeking relief from the students. His wife was pleading with the students and asking the University security to shift him to a fully-equipped hospital outside the campus, but these unruly students did not move; they surrounded the ambulance and forced it to be taken to the University Health Centre," he added in his statement.
JNU Vice-Chancellor Dr Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, in a tweet, reiterated the registrar's statement, "The University administration is contemplating severe action against some JNU students whose conduct today has been not only unbecoming but dangerous and shameful. This kind of behaviour by a section of JNU students is highly condemnable and outrageous." Dr Pramod's statement also went on to inform that the students still had Professor Umesh Kadam cornered at the Health Centre, "The DoS is being confined now in a doctor's office and the students have surrounded the health centre."
But the students say they are there only to give Dr Kadam an application by the JNUSU to withdraw the "illegal Draconian IHA draft".
Former JNUSU President Sai Balaji said that the administration was lying and that Dean simply ran away. "They are overtly lying. They did not call us for the meeting at the convention centre so we went there to protest. We did not intimidate him or cause any medical condition. He ran away and got admitted to the medical centre. No one stopped him from doing so," Balaji said. "Why are they hell-bent on not calling us to the meeting? Rather than making the university a safe space for learning, they are threatening students, this is what it has come to. Let them take action, what will they do anyway?" asked the student leader.
The JNUSU in an official statement said that upon continuous insistence by the student representatives who are members of the IHA committee, vide 1.5.1 of the Hostel Manual, to be included in this crucial meeting, the meeting was abruptly adjourned by Dr Kadam. "Presently the students have gathered around the university health centre asking Umesh Kadam to receive the application being submitted by JNUSU to withdraw the illegal Draconian IHA draft,' said the JNUSU. "The IHA draft seeks to implement a massive fee hike in JNU hostels, along with regressive provisions such as a curfew time, hefty fines and punishments for protests, and complete disappearance of reservation policies in hostel allotment. The JNUSU has been continuously appealing the dean to receive the application and enter into a process of discussion with the student representatives whenever he feels fit," added the statement.
