Jawaharlal Nehru University has withdrawn a notice asking a PhD scholar to explain his involvement in a protest four years ago after the student sought a copy of the complaint.
A revised notice that the university has now issued to PhD student N. Sai Balaji — a former students’ union president and member of the Leftist student body AISA — too asks him to appear before the proctor’s office on November 9, like the earlier one did. However, it changes the dates of the purported protest and the complaint.
Balaji had been weeks from submitting his thesis when the proctor’s office issued the original notice. It summoned him for questioning over his participation in a protest in front of the administrative block on November 5, 2019. The notice said the university had received a complaint on November 6, 2019.
Since 2017, protest gatherings have been banned within 100 metres of the administrative block.
Balaji asked for a copy of the complaint to be able to respond. He also expressed surprise that the university had woken up to an incident that occurred four years ago.
On Friday, the proctor’s office issued the revised notice saying the earlier letter of October 30 should be ignored as “there is typographic error” relating to the dates of the complaint and the incident.
The revised notice said a complaint dated November 3, 2019, was received by the chief proctor’s office from the chief security officer about a demonstration in front of the administrative building on October 31, 2019. The notice said six students were involved in the protest at the site.
It couldn’t be ascertained whether the other five have been issued with similar notices or whether they are still JNU students.
Balaji said the administration’s flip-flop on the dates of the protest and complaint betrayed an intent to harass him.
He said the administration had provided him with a security report that accuses him of delivering a speech near the administrative block. He said he would ask for a transcript of the speech.
“It’s possible that I may have praised the vice-chancellor instead of opposing him. Recently the RSS held a meeting near the administrative block but no action has been taken since they hailed the government,” Balaji told The Telegraph.
“I too may have praised the government. Now the university should provide me with the transcript, so that I can appear for questioning.”
The protest was part of a two-month agitation against the university’s move to almost double the hostel fee. The high court later allowed the students to continue to pay the existing hostel fee.
Last updated on 04 Nov 2023
