JNU row: Students, faculty question JNUSU referendum seeking VC Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit’s removal

New Delhi: A few students and faculty members of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) have raised concerns over a recent referendum conducted by the JNUSU, which asked students to vote on whether the university's vice chancellor should be removed following her alleged casteist remarks. A statement, jointly released by independent students and faculty members on Wednesday, also questioned the referendum's legitimacy. This came a day after the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) called upon university students to vote in a referendum, after which the students' mandate on whether they want Vice Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit to resign would be released.

A faculty member, Christhu Doss from the Centre for Historical Studies, School of Social Sciences, said, "Who was the independent election commission or election commissioner who monitored this so-called referendum to make it transparent, democratic, legal and acceptable?" Doss also raised questions regarding whether any agenda was passed for the referendum, the validity of the results, and the university statute or act under which a student referendum could remove a serving vice chancellor. The recent tensions on campus, which culminated in the referendum, began early February with the suspension of four JNUSU office-bearers, along with former JNUSU president Nitish Kumar, for two semesters.

This was followed by protests, clashes among student groups and alleged casteist remarks made by the VC. The referendum result, released by JNUSU on Wednesday, showed that a total of 2,409 students cast their votes. Of these, 2,181 voted for the Vice Chancellor's resignation, 207 students voted in favour of the VC's continuation, and 21 votes were invalid.

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Responding to some of the questions raised by Doss, Aditi Mishra, president of JNUSU, said, "It is very sad that the legitimacy of an elected student body has been repeatedly questioned. The referendum conducted by JNUSU is absolutely valid, all due process was followed, and instructions for the referendum were released a day before. "We have the signature of every student who cast their vote, for transparency and the entire process was overseen by elected councillors. The students have a right to come together to express a collective opinion," Mishra said.

Meanwhile, a group of students and faculty members stated that they "reject" the JNUSU's referendum, as it is " not legally sound, is not democratic, and takes attention away from real student issues". "The President of India appoints the vice chancellor of JNU under the Central Universities Act, 2009. No student referendum has the power to remove, force the removal of, or even officially suggest the removal of a Vice-Chancellor," they added.