Seven of eight Jawaharlal Nehru University students, who were excluded from academic activities earlier this week in connection with a controversial event held on the campus, have been asked to appear
Seven of eight Jawaharlal Nehru University students, who were excluded from academic activities earlier this week in connection with a controversial event held on the campus, have been asked to appear before a high-level committee of the university probing the matter.
According to the JNU registrar, Prof. Bupinder Zutshi, seven students have been sent notices to appear before the university’s high-level committee probing the matter. Eight students, including Kanhaiya Kumar, the president of the JNU Students’ Union who later was arrested and is now facing sedition charges, have been debarred from any academic activity till the inquiry is over. “The debarred students have been allowed to stay in the hostels as they will be required to attend the probe committee meetings,” said Mr Zutshi.
The authorities in the JNU took the decision on the basis of an interim report of the proctorial committee set up by the vice-chancellor. The final report of the probe panel is likely to be ready by next week.
Two days ago, after receiving an interim report from its disciplinary committee probing the involvement of the students, the university had debarred eight students from academic activities pending a disciplinary inquiry.
On the committee recommendation to debar the st-udents, JNU vice-chancellor Jagdeesh Kumar had said that considering the seriousness of the incide-nts and in order to enable a fair enquiry, the committee has debarred the eight students from academic activities with immediate effect during the pendency of the inquiry.
Mr Kumar is in police custody in connection with the case. He was arrested earlier this week after a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy was registered over holding of the event at the JNU campus during which anti-India slogans were alleged to have been raised. The arrest has triggered widespread outrage among students and teachers and had drawn severe criticism from non-BJP parties.
