JNUTA sees admin connivance in violence, blames police inaction

New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association (JNUTA) on Wednesday alleged the administration and said that the mob attack in the campus could not have been possible without the active involvement of the JNU administration and deliberate inaction by police. "The mob violence could not have been possible without the active connivance of the administration and deliberate inaction by Delhi Police," JNUTA said in a statement.

JNUTA also slammed Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar for asking students to "put the past behind" and return to classes. "How can students go back to hostels or to classrooms when they do not feel safe? How can teachers go back to teach when they do not feel safe?" it said.

The teachers association said the command to students and faculty to forget and to accept administrative terror as normalcy "is an insult to injury". JNU faculty was also injured in the violent attack on January 5, when a group of masked mob, who the students and teachers allege was members of ABVP, entered the campus and vandalized hostels, injuring many students. Meanwhile, under the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Federation (JNUTF), alleged that a few students have been "radicalized" following instigation from JNUTA. "Anti registration gang has lost its mind," said a professor and members of JNUTF Anshu Joshi.

JNU's V-C has been heavily criticized for not taking immediate measures when they were brutally attacked by the mob, but on Tuesday urged the students to put the past behind and return to the varsity's premises. "Our heart goes out to all the injured students. The incident (violence) is unfortunate," Kumar had said. He also said that the campus is a secured place where anyone can move around late at night as well. "I would like to tell students that JNU campus is a secure place. I urge all students to come back to the campus. Let us put the past behind," he said.