Exclusive: JNU a nationalist university, says VC

Shedding some light on what had exactly happened before the Ram Navami violence at the varsity, the VC, in an exclusive interview to ETV Bharat, said that the administration has launched a proctorial inquiry into the matter though nothing is clear as of now.

New Delhi:Speaking on the recent violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) over the Ram Navami and non-veg food issue, JNU Vice-Chancellor Shantishree Pandit said that '95% of the JNU's student population is nationalist and the incident that happened recently was just a 'fringe', which is quite normal in any varsity in the country.

"JNU is a university that works for the nation. JNU has been giving India great people since 1969, most of whom are on important posts and are serving the nation. Nobody is antinational here," she said. Further emphasizing how thinkers can be 'critical', she said that dissent is a normal thing here, but that does not make anyone "anti-national".

Shedding some light on what had exactly happened before the Ram Navami violence at the varsity, the VC, in an exclusive interview to ETV Bharat, said that the administration has launched a proctorial inquiry into the matter though nothing is clear as of now. "As per my knowledge, both iftaar party and Ram Navami havan were going on. Some students claim that the havan was interrupted, which I think is wrong since everyone has the right to practice their religion. Another issue was of non-vegetarian food. All the hostels had non-vegetarian food; only in Kaveri hostel, the violence broke out. There are several interpretations over the issue right now but we can reach a conclusion only after the proctorial inquiry concludes," the VC added.

She also highlighted that the administration had no idea about the issues regarding non-vegetarian food being served in the hostel since the mess management is looked after by the students' committee and not by the JNU administration. "As the VC, I would like to clarify that we do not oppose any sort of food habits. We believe it is one's personal freedom to consume the food of their choice," she affirmed.

Clarifying that the students from both sides have been given a fair opportunity to put forth their arguments and evidence, she said that the matter has been handed over to the proctorial committee entirely and the authorities will soon reach a conclusion after a thorough hearing. "The students have also reached out to the police authorities. The administration is trying to reach a solution through cooperation with them," she said. Further adding that the JNU authorities do not tolerate violence she said that 'dissent is one thing, but whoever resorted to violence is in the wrong. "We are intolerant towards violence and we will make sure that action is taken against whoever resorted to it in this incident," she said.

Being a JNU graduate herself, the VC also reminisced her times here as a student. She said that the political atmosphere back then was quite different than it is now. "There was just one narrative at the time here - the left narrative. The leftists here were also nationalists back then. They also followed Gandhian ideology. But now there are multiple narratives, which I think is good for the growth of the varsity," she said. She further emphasized how most students studying at JNU today are poor students who only want to get good education and employment.

Pandit gave the credit for being the first woman Vice-Chancellor of JNU to the central government. "I am the first woman, first South Indian to have taken charge as the VC, and I come from a backward class too. The centre has shattered three glass ceilings by appointing me as the VC here. Others just promised things, this government made it possible," she said.

Speaking about woman empowerment, she emphasized the goddesses in the Hindu culture, saying that they have been considered above men in cultural history. "Goddess Lakshmi, Goddess Sarasvati are attributed to wealth and education. It's only in this culture that wives are considered above their husbands. This is the culture we want to incorporate into women empowerment here. Not just women, we intend to make everyone work for the betterment of the nation at JNU," she said.

Speaking over the issue of hostel accommodation, she said that the central government has been quite generous towards the university. "Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has helped me a lot so far, and we as a university are also thankful to the central government. Earlier there were just 7 hostels, now there are 17. We will collaborate with the government and make things even better. We also plan on starting a school of Indian languages. The Tamil, Kannada and Odiya languages are already on our list, we will add other languages soon too," she added.