JNU Attendance Protests: FIR Against 2 Students After ‘VC Gherao’

Students have been protesting the minimum 75% attendance criteria that the Uni has been trying to implement.

JNU students protesting the compulsory attendance rule.

(Photo: Vatsala Singh/The Quint)

The Delhi Police, on 16 February, registered two FIRs against students of Jawaharlal Nehru University, a day after they gheraoed the administration block and restricted two senior officials from leaving the building for hours.

Peeved over not being able to meet the Vice Chancellor to discuss issues related to the compulsory attendance order, some students gheraoed the JNU's administration block on 15 February.

Hundreds of students, led by Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU), also picketed outside all the gates of the building and confronted and stopped senior university officials who tried to go out.

Two FIRs have been registered against the JNU students for wrongful restraint of two rectors in the administration block on 16 February, a senior police officer said.

Based on two separate complaints filed by the officials, two FIRs have been registered with the Vasant Kunj North Police Station.

A senior police officer told PTI

One more FIR has been filed against students who blocked the road near the administration office, demanding withdrawal of compulsory attendance ruling of the university.

However, it was not immediately known how many students were named in the police.

The academic areas of Jawaharlal University (JNU) reportedly witnessed a total lockdown on Friday, 9 February, as its students launched a massive strike to protest the administration’s call for “compulsory attendance”.

The strike was called by Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU), reports The Hindu, which asked the students to reject the administration’s new rule.

(Photo: Vatsala Singh/The Quint)

According to the report, as a response to the strike organised by the JNUSU, the administration had gone on to give out a series of circulars that threatened students with a withdrawal of hostel seats, cancelation of fellowships/scholarships, debarment from registering for the next semester or sitting for the upcoming exams, if they didn’t obtain a minimum of 75 percent attendance.

In retaliation, aggravated students from all political organisations, including the Left and the ABVP, blocked the entrances to all the buildings on campus, reports The Indian Express.

The Indian Express report added that on the same day, a female student alleged that she was manhandled by an assistant professor at the university when she tried to prevent him from entering the social sciences building.

Both the professor and the student have filed complaints at the Vasant Kunj police station, it says. However, no FIR has been registered yet.

(Photo: Vatsala Singh/The Quint)

We will continue the movement against compulsory attendance. Tomorrow, we have given a call for a human chain, as well as a night march from Ganga Dhaba that will culminate at the administrative block, which we will reclaim.

JNUSU vice-president Simone Zoya Khan told <i>The Indian Express</i>

According to The Hindu, the JNU Teacher’s Association (JNUTA) too has spoken out against the “authoritarian and coercive” methods used by the administration in employing the compulsory attendance rule.

Listing a series of punitive actions against refusal to record attendance, the JNUTA, and several centres and schools have already expressed their serious reservation regarding the implementation of a policy of mandatory attendance.&nbsp;

The JUNTA said in a statement, as reported by <i>The Hindu</i>

“We urge the administration to initiate a dialogue with the concerned parties on the matter, instead of using authoritarian and coercive methods,” it added.

(With inputs from PTI, The Hindu and The Indian Express)