‘Dark ages of JNU’: Teachers write to President Droupadi Murmu seeking removal of VC

Calling it the ‘dark ages’ of JNU under the vice-chancellorship of Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) has accused her of “abusing statutory powers” and pursuing “personal vendetta” to terminate a faculty member.

The JNUTA has written two strongly-worded letters — one addressed to the VC and the other to the Visitor of the university, President Droupadi Murmu — on the “illegal” removal of Rohan VH Choudhari of the Centre for Political Studies and serious governance issues in JNU.

The teachers highlighted the stark contrast between the leniency shown to the VC in the past over her own disciplinary record and the career-ending action taken against a faculty member for a relatively minor incident.

“This is what you yourself have faced earlier in your career disciplinary action. Compared to the charges against you then, even the accusations against Dr. Rohan, let alone their substance, are minor,” the teachers said.

Letter to JNU VC

The JNU teachers association has written one of its sharpest criticisms to date, accusing the VC of “grossly abusing the powers vested in the office of the vice-chancellor by the JNU Act, Statues and Ordinances”.

It condemned the violation of statutory powers by VC and stated that the actions lacked “humanity and morality, where teachers are treated as no more than pawns in a game of pursuing selfish personal goals”.

“It is you therefore who are guilty of gross misconduct,” the teachers said, and informed her about the open letter written to the President of India for removing her from the office.

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Saying that the VC “would of course claim the decision to terminate” as a collective decision of the Executive Council, the JNUTA highlighted that the three elected representatives recorded their opposition in writing, with two of them allegedly not even allowed to speak during the meeting.

“These representatives have not been appointed by your choice but have been elected by their colleagues in an election conducted by the JNU Administration. They represent the real sentiments of the teachers in the Executive Council while the others are merely holding their position only nominally, only to do your bidding. So the proposal for termination of the services of Dr. Rohan was actually defeated in the Executive Council by a three-fourths majority,” the letter read.

“Even an act of partial redemption like the revoking of the termination order is unlikely unless forced, even though you may have realized that it was your mistaken thought that it will send a message that would ensure that no one questions your actions in future. However, you will cease to be the Vice Chancellor of JNU someday, tomorrow if not today.”

“No one, including those who out of fear or for the benefit of some small crumbs, may hang around you and sing paeans of your praise today, will look back at this time with any real sense of nostalgia. The enduring characterization of the period in which you and your predecessor were in charge of the JNU Administration will be that they were part of the institution’s ‘Dark Ages’,” the letter concluded.

JNUTA writes open letter to President of India

In an open letter to the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, the JNUTA invoked the powers of the Visitor under the Clause 8(8) of the JNU Act, 1966, to annul the termination order and remove the VC.

The association called the termination of the young faculty as the tipping point in what it described as a steady decline of governance at JNU.

The association argued that the VC’s actions reflected a “steady process of undermining statutory bodies and deliberative processes” by concentrating power in her office. It alleged that faculty appointments, promotions , and even housing allocations were being decided arbitrarily to enforce silence through a “carrot and stick policy.”

“We gave her ample opportunity to live up to this expectation and held back from making any final judgement on her tenure despite the fact that in the last three and a half years things have only moved more and more in a direction where teachers feel completely disenfranchised and find their dignity being trampled over repeatedly,” the letter read.

The teachers said that the VC was “not amenable to reason” and has lost the confidence of the faculty. They requested the Murmu to remove her from the position and urged the President for a meeting to explain their position.