Seeking alternative means: JNU students prepare placards during the launch of a ‘satyagraha’ on the JNU campus on Monday . | Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) on Monday began its “satyagraha” against the JNU administration’s “autocratic functioning” with a three-day university strike. Three professors; Vikas Rawal, Jyoti Bhosle and Pradep Shinde began a hunger strike as well to “expose the lies being generated by the administration in order to cover up its repeated violations of decision-making procedures”. ‘Other methods failed’ The JNUTA said that it was forced to launch a satyagraha as all attempts to resolve matters through discussions and dialogue seem closed because of an unresponsive administration. The teachers as part of their agitation will also march to Parliament and launch a public awareness campaign. Demand reinstatement An immediate trigger for the protest was the removal of seven centre chairpersons and one school dean with immediate effect because they had “... not complied with, or refused to, implement the attendance system in the University...”. The association has demanded that these deans and chairpersons be reinstated immediately. Some of the other issues that the JNUTA highlighted while launching the protest were: mandating marking of attendance through signatures, seat-cut in the MPhil-PhD programmes, vivas-over-Skype, interfering with panel of experts for faculty selection processes, supersession in appointments of Deans and Chairs, targeting of individual faculty members, arbitrary denial of promotions, arbitrary non-renewals of wardenships and dismantling of the well-functioning GSCASH “passed” without proper discussion and creating “compliant” bodies with no room for dissent. “While taking all these decisions, statutory bodies were not consulted, no suggestions were invited from the centres, no discussion was allowed in the Academic Council and no dissent was acknowledged or recorded. It has become a practice to justify these predetermined decisions by recording minutes that misrepresent and distort what transpires in the meetings,” said JNUTA president Sonajharia Minz. New committees Teachers added that it was worrisome that new committees that are being set up to address important academic concerns comprise only nominated members and it is fully expected that the recommendations of these committees may be implemented without any discussion. The JNUTA added that despite its strike, it is committed to ensuring that the admissions process that is ongoing in the university is not disrupted as this would only make the situation worse resulting from the arbitrary seat-cut that was imposed in the last academic year.

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