Two senior leaders of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) and research students Aishe Ghosh and Mohammad Danish have been authorised by the Dean of Students (DoS) to hold school-level governing body meetings for the formation of an independent student election committee, stated a report in The New Indian Express.
Aishe Ghosh is a student at the Centre for Inner Asian Studies (School of International Studies) and has been the President of the JNUSU while Mohammad Danish is a student at the Centre of German Studies (School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies) and holds the position of the Joint Secretary of JNUSU.
The official notification issued by the Dean of Students on February 16 read, "With reference to the circular dated January 23, 2024, January 30, 2024 and February 5, 2024 and the letter dated February 13, 2024 submitted by the students to the Dean of Students, it is informed to all concerned that following two students have been authorized by the UGBM to conduct GBMs of the students for formulation of EC to initiate the JUSU election 2023-24. Aishe Ghosh and Mohammad Danish."
Statements from students
Prior to this notification, all left student organisations of the JNU on Friday, February 16, had issued a common statement, saying, "On the call of All Organization, students marched to DoS demanding immediate handing over of authorization letter for conduct of School GBMs. The resolutions passed unanimously by the University General Body Meeting conducted on 12th February was already submitted to the DoS on 13th February. But, the DoS has still not sent the authorization letter. The UGBM is the ultimate decision-making body of JNU students and by not sending the authorization letter, the Admin is once again trying to disregard the mandate of thousands of students."
"The quorum sheets which were collected by JNUSU have been pasted outside DoS. Therefore, all the undersigned Organizations have decided to give the DoS 24 hours for sending the authorization letter for conduct of School GBMs, failing which there will be a complete university strike in the University on 19th February, 2024(Monday)," read the statement by the students' outfits.
However, once the notification was released, another statement was issued by the JNUSU stating, "The Admin has been forced to release a notification authorizing Aishe Ghosh and Md. Danish (President and Joint Secretary of JNUSU) to hold school level GBMs for the formation of an Independent Student Election Committee! We congratulate the entire student community for unitedly demanding and fighting for union elections."
