In another bizarre move, the JNU administration has removed chairpersons of 8 centres of the university, for non-compliance with implementation of compulsory attendance norms.

Notices were sent to the various chairpersons with the issuing date as March 14, 2018, and confirm that these decisions are in effect with the “approval of the competent authority”. The chairpersons have also been slapped with charges of “insubordination”.

The urgency with which the move was made has raised many eyebrows, as the JNU community as a whole was of the opinion that in no way will the administration go so far as to remove chairpersons over attendance.

But the administration seems to be moving two steps ahead. It is to be mentioned that this is not simply a case of removing one chairperson from her/his post and filling it with another but a pattern can be identified in terms of the posts which are given to the new chairpersons.

It is well evident that all of the new chairpersons are one with the administration in carrying out its diktats on campus and hence have been given this opportunity. Not only this, there is a close ideological association among the new appointees, since all of them are active right-wingers.

Before I go further, it is important to mention some of the names that were replaced overnight and the new ones who took over the vacant positions. To begin with is the premier Centre for Historical Studies, where Prof Sucheta Mahajan has been replaced by Prof Umesh Ashok Kadam; at the Centre for French and Fracophone Studies/SL Prof Dhir Sarangi has been replaced by Prof Rajiv Saxena; and at the Centre for Comparative Politics and Political Thought/SIS Prof Pradeep Kumar Dutta has been replaced by Prof Sanjay Kumar Bharadwaj.

It is clear that the administration is running out of people to appoint at various posts as the same individual is being given charge of more than one position.

There is no doubt that this move is a political one and gives evidence of the way the administration is exercising its authority over every single thing in an autocratic manner. It is an open secret that the Vice-Chancellor of JNU – M Jagadesh Kumar – is indeed a puppet of the right-wing government at the Centre and has been entrusted with the responsibility of changing the nature and soul of JNU.

Being a political appointee, Prof Kumar is replicating the same pattern further, by appointing his close associates at various centres of JNU so that the top-down approach of ruling the university is not hampered and little space is left for any opposition from within. In one stroke, the administration has taken all university affairs in its own hands to oversee that orders from above can be implemented on the ground with zero resistance.

Students and faculty in JNU have, however, refused to be bogged down by this new attack and are united in their opposition to the move. They have made it very clear that things are heading towards the situation of “you” or “us” on the campus.

As a way of protest, students have outrightly refused to accept the newly appointed chairpersons. In the School of Arts and Aesthetics, students have started a lock-down against the appointment of new dean Mazhar Asif, replacing Prof Kavita Singh who was “supportive” to the students.

They have appealed to the students of other centres to lend their support to the movement. In a similar voice, students at the Centre for Historical Studies have decided to ensure a complete lock-down of the office in the building so that no official work can be conducted for at least four days.

They have also written an open letter to the newly appointed chairperson, requesting him not to accept this position as it clearly disregards “many established procedures”. They have requested him to meet the students to clear his stand on the attendance issue.

On March 15, the Teacher Association of JNU gave a call for a protest march, registering their dissent against the arbitrary move. The stand of the students’ union is still awaited; though they have condemned the move the future course of action is being deliberated upon.

On the whole, it appears that the JNU administration is adamant more than ever before and is willing to go the extra mile to force compulsory attendance despite resistance from every corner of the university.