Category Archives: Education

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More Videos from the University of Hyderabad – The Prison is the University, The University is the Prison: Student Videographers from UoH/HCU

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Guest Post Compiled from Uploads by Student Videographers from UoH/HCU and their friends

“The only thing to fear is fear itself”

[ Since the mainstream media, particularly television channels, are steadfastly refusing to report the ‘undeclared emergency’ in the University of Hyderabad (also known as Hyderabad Central University – HCU), we at Kafila, (along with many other online platforms, such as Raiot.in, India Resists, Scroll.in, The Wire, RoundtableIndia.in and several youtube channels) are going to continue providing our readers with testimonies by students and faculty from the University of Hyderabad.

Venkaiah Naidu, Bandaru Dattatreya, Smriti Irani and Rajnath Singh (all senior ministers in the BJP government at the centre) and some of their chamchas have probably been on the phone all of the past few days with senior editors and media management to try and ensure that the situation remains unreported, un-commented upon. Or, is it  just the ‘business as usual’ matter of Savarna (Hindu upper caste, usually, but not only, masculine) privilege (and insecurity) playing itself out in newsrooms and edit meetings when it comes to reporting an assertive, articulate, intelligent protest with a very large Dalit-Bahujan component in Hyderabad. Or is it a bit of both?

What other explanation can there be for the almost blanket ban on reportage, analysis and commentary on the extraordinary situation in Hyderabad in most national TV channels? Even the reporting in major newspapers, though better than what exists on TV channels, leaves a lot to be desired. Every major news organization has correspondents in Hyderabad, and even if they are not able to enter the university because of the VC’s orders, they can still definitely speak to the students if they want to, because the students regularly assemble outside the university gates. What prevents them from doing that? What exactly is going on?

After the rage that was sparked by Rohith Vemula’s institutional murder and the crackdown in JNU, the BJP government probably believes that the only way to continue repression is to do it under the cloak of silence. And so, the heavy breathing down the phone lines. And so, the reversion to the Savarna stiff upper lip code of silence – an ‘omertà’ which disables possibilities of translation, or even just transmission of what is going on in Hyderabad.

But this mistaken belief that the media’s silence can translate into public indifference and ignorance about the war that the Modi regime has unleashed on the young, will actually work to create a backlash. It is already destroying the little credibility that the regime has, and eroding a lot more confidence in its media backers.

Young people, in Hyderabad, in JNU, and in countless other campuses, factories and workplaces, are way smarter, way more media savvy than either the idiots who run the show in the BJP, or their mavens in the media can gauge. The young (and their friends amongst their teachers) will make sure that the airwaves resonate with their voices and accounts.

The first video in the series below, all taken from Youtube channels started by students and their friends, has a speaker saying something wonderfully generous – “The only thing to fear is fear itself”. Listen to her, listen to her friends and comrades. Share this post widely. Defeat the collaborative exercise of repression and censorship undertaken by the Modi regime and the mainstream media on this issue.

Jai Bhim, Lal Salaam, Inquilab Zindabad !  – Kafila ]

With thanks to the Justice for Rohith Youtube channel, from which these videos are taken.

Education, Identities, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

Updates from Hyderabad Central University

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A Suneetha, The Citizen Bureau, Kalpana Kannabiran, Preethi Raghunath.

A. SUNEETHA, Anveshi Research Centre for Women’s Studies, Hyderabad:

This is to inform you all that strong local support is building up in Hyderabad for the students and faculty of University of Hyderabad. Here are some of the details.

a) During the two day shut down of UOH by the administration, students and faculty of EFLU and others sent food to UOH. Lamakaan opened their canteen to the students. A few offered their homes to the students who may have wanted to leave the campus.

b) On the legal front, support has poured in from the faculty and students. The faculty have offered generous support to stand surety for their students. Also crowds of students and faculty are in the court to express solidarity.

Continue reading Updates from Hyderabad Central University →

Education, Identities, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

Why is Prof K.Y. Ratnam being targeted? Friends of Prof Ratnam

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indexProf K.Y.Ratnam is the last person one expects to get arrested on charges of destruction of public property or provoking violence. So we were dismayed to find that he is one of the people arrested in UOH along with 27 young students and a faculty member in this week’s crackdown in the University.

But perhaps one should expect that he is on the watch-list of the current Vice Chancellor Prof. Appa Rao Podile. In 2001, Prof Ratnam, then an assistant warden of hostels, was targeted by administrative humiliation, which led to student support and the rustication of eight dalit students from the university. The current vice chancellor Prof Appa Rao Podile was then the chief warden of the hostels. He was the authority who handed out the humiliating posting to Ratnam. He has also been charged with pursuing the rustication of the nine dalit students. His antagonism with Ratnam therefore is well known.

Prof. Ratnam has been one among the SC/ST faculty who have extended whole hearted support to the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice in HCU formed after Rohith Vemula’s suicide two months ago. In the melee which led to his arrest, Ratnam was seen and heard pleading with the police not to be too harsh with the students. And this seems to be the ‘offence’ that he was arrested for. According to those who visited him in the Cherlapally prison he was beaten by the police in the van and in the police station too. And sustained injuries in his face.

Following his arrest he is likely to be suspended from the university. If this happens his course with 72 students is likely to remain unfinished. This would definitely trouble him, being the conscientious teacher that he is. He has had several dalit M Phil and PhD students successfully defend their work under his guidance over the past two decades. And his gentle and persuasive force towards rational thinking in the anti-caste struggles is too well known in the university and the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh too.

A few lines about his other academic credentials will not be out of place here. He started the Centre for Ambedkar Studies in the University of Hyderabad. And is the first teacher to take up Ambedkar’s writings in the curriculum and has taught the issue of caste and oppression in the department of political science. He has been part of a recent collective initiative that published a volume  analyzing and criticizing the attempt by the RSS to appropriate the thought of Ambedkar.

Conscientiousness, academic credentials and political commitment seem to be the crimes for which Prof. Ratnam is being targeted by Prof. Appa Rao Podile’s administration. Fortunately they are not crimes in the Indian Penal Code.

Friends of Prof.K.Y.Ratnam 
(R.Srivatsan, A.Suneetha, Gogu Shyamala and others) 
Education, Government, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

CPDR Condemns the Brutal Police Attack on the Dalit Students and Faculty at Hyderabad Central University

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STATEMENT FROM CPDR, MAHARASHTRA

Yesterday, on 22 March 2016, the Hyderabad Police brutally attacked the students and faculty of the Hyderabad Central University who protested against resumption of Appa Rao Poddile, Vice Chancellor. Many students and two faculty members were badly injured in the police attack. Some 36 students along with two professors, K Y Ratnam and Tathagat Sengupta were taken into custody, the whereabouts of them remains unknown till today.

Appa Rao Poddile, the Vice Chancellor, who was sent on leave in the wake of students’ agitation that broke out over the suicide of a Dalit scholar, Rohith Vemula, joined back the University. Appa Rao’s prejudiced actions against the Dalit scholars were exposed to the world during the flare up over Rohith’s death. He, along with Bandaru Dattatreya, and Smriti Irani are clearly responsible for his institutional murder. Hyderabad Police had accordingly booked him along with the union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, N Sushil Kumar, the HCU Unit of the ABVP and one Vishnu for abetment of suicide and also for violations of the SC/ST Atrocities Act. The cases under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code and also the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (prevention of atrocities) Act were filed in Gachibowli police station under Cyberabad police commissionerate limits. In its characteristic obstinacy the HRD Ministry sent him back to take charge of the university.

Continue reading CPDR Condemns the Brutal Police Attack on the Dalit Students and Faculty at Hyderabad Central University →

Education, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression in solidarity with HCU

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Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS) strongly condemns the brutal police action against the students of the University of Hyderabad. The students, who were exercising their democratic right to protest, were lathi-charged, beaten and manhandled and women students were mauled and threatened with sexual assault. Students and faculty members were forcibly dragged into police vans, thrashed and moved from thana to thana to prevent them from contacting their lawyers and families. They have also been mercilessly beaten while in custody. As many as 34 students and three faculty members have been sent to jail – the beatings have continued even after remand.

For the last two months, the students of the Universty of Hyderabad have been protesting the institutional murder of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula. Their campaign for justice for Rohith has reverberated across the country and has rallied thousands in support of their call for an end to caste discrimination in educational institutions.

The police action follows hard on the heels of the re-appearance of the VC on the campus. This individual is one of the key actors in the events leading to Rohith’s death, and stands charged with offences under the SC/ST Atrocities Act. He was supposedly on indefinite leave pending the results of the inquiry instituted against him, and the students protested against this stealthy attempt at his re-instatement with a gherao of the VC’s lodge.

The response of the Government of Telengana and the University has been to turn the campus into a war zone. The students are under siege – hostel messes have been locked down, electricity and water have been cut off and the gates sealed to prevent the entry of media persons and “outsiders” trying to provide food, water and medical aid to the injured. Students who have volunteered to keep the kitchens running to feed their comrades have been beaten and their provisions confiscated. At least one of these volunteers is critically injured and still not out of danger. The media is being fed with concocted reports that are contradicted by video footage taken by students, with testimonies describing the attacks and showing their injuries. The continued presence on the campus of large numbers of armed police tells its own story.

The strategy of the BJP government – to crush all dissent and establish a totalitarian saffron regime in institutions of higher education – is now visible in campuses across the country, from Hyderabad to JNU, Pune and Chennai. The HRD Ministry is brazenly using every possible instrument to foist their regressive, limited and flawed version of education on the academic community. The government has shown its willingness to use force to stifle critical enquiry and independent thought, and to silence dissent and questioning.

We stand strongly with the students of the University of Hyderabad in their struggle to protect democracy on the campus and to challenge and combat casteism and discrimination in educational institutions. We salute them, and their comrades in struggle in universities across the country, for bringing new energy and hope to our democracy through their determined opposition to the repressive casteist, communal and patriarchal ideology and world view that the Hindutvavadi regime seeks to foist on us.

We salute Radhika Vemula for her determination to claim justice for her son and for the lakhs of Dalit students who are daily facing violence and discrimination in their pursuit of education.

We condemn the actions of the state government, which has shown its subservience to the Modi sarkar and cynically sold out its commitment to the students without whom Telengana would not have come into being.

We demand Continue reading Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression in solidarity with HCU →

Bad ideas, Debates, Education, Government, Identities, Left watch, Media politics, Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

Statement by Concerned Faculty from The English and Foreign Languages University on the Police Crackdown at HCU

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We, the concerned faculty from The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, strongly condemn the police brutality at the University of Hyderabad on 22nd March 2016, after the return of Prof. Appa Rao Podile, the Vice-Chancellor accused of abetting the suicide of the Dalit Research Scholar Rohith Vemula. As an academic community, we are extremely disturbed by the excessive interference of the state machinery, administrative conspiracies, the abuse of power and systemic oppression that prevail in many of the universities in India of late. A university should be a just and egalitarian space. But the suicides of Dalit students with the recent case of Rohith Vemula lay bare systemic structures of oppression and institutional legitimization of caste violence existing within Indian universities. Our university spaces need serious re-vamping to ensure equal opportunity, social justice and critical discourses. Continue reading Statement by Concerned Faculty from The English and Foreign Languages University on the Police Crackdown at HCU →

Bad ideas, Centre watch, Debates, Education, Government, Identities, Law, Media politics, Movements, Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

A Fig-leaf Called ‘Vandalism’ by UoH Students: SC and ST Faculty Forum and Concerned Teachers of University of Hyderabad

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For the past three days the news media has been circulating widely, stories about ‘vandalism’ by students of the University of Hyderabad that led to the police crackdown. Surprisingly little information is actually there on the actual context, timing, duration and nature of the vandalism. It appears that the claim that a group of students indulged in acts of vandalism is enough to justify a full scale war on the entire campus community of over 5000 students.  Yet this charge of vandalism is no more than a fig leaf . Continue reading A Fig-leaf Called ‘Vandalism’ by UoH Students: SC and ST Faculty Forum and Concerned Teachers of University of Hyderabad →

Education, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

JNUTA Condemns Repression in Hyderabad Central University

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The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Association, which currently holds Secretary’s position in the Federation of Central University Teachers’ Associations (FEDCUTA), is disturbed by the repots of attacks on the autonomy and democratic life of Hyderabad Central University (HCU). JNUTA condemns in unequivocal terms the brutality unleashed by the Police on unarmed students and teachers in Central University of Hyderabad. JNUTA denounces the resuming of office by the Vice Chancellor of Hyderabad Central University when a Judicial Enquiry is pending against him for his alleged role in the tragic death of Rohit Vemula. It is a matter of concern that basic services including water supply and Internet connections are disrupted in HCU.

JNUTA expresses its concern over the arrest of faculty members and students in HCU and demands their immediate release. It urges upon all to maintain restrain and not to resort to violence of any kind. It appeals to the Administration of Hyderabad Central University to immediately restore the basic services in the residential units of students to ensure that their academic activities do not suffer.

Use of police and coercion is not going to help in the smooth functioning of a University, which is meant to protect justice and democracy and uphold the Constitution of India in letter and spirit.  The Hyderabad Central University VC and administration should bear this in mind before using mindless force against teachers and students.

Prof. Ajay Patnaik                                                Dr. Bikramaditya Choudhary

President, JNUTA                                                              Secretary, JNUTA

 

 

 

Education, Everyday Life, Government, Right watch

Statement from SC/ST Faculty Forum and Concerned Teachers, Univ of Hyderabad

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 The following is a Press Release from the SC/ST Faculty Forum and Concerned Teachers on the state of affairs in the University, especially since the peculiar, staged incidents, surrounding the return of the former Vice Chancellor

We express our extreme displeasure at Prof. Appa Rao resuming office without information given even to the incharge Vice-Chancellor. Prof. Appa Rao has returned to the office when he has not yet been exonerated either by the court or by the Judicial Enquiry instituted by the MHRD based on the two member committee report which took into cognizance the very serious concerns raised by the students and the teaching fraternity.

The time period of the judicial probe is not completed and the commission has until April 30th 2016 to submit its report. In order for a fair probe to be carried on, it was not expected that Prof. Appa Rao returns to the office till he was cleared of charges. We are shocked at the manner in which Prof. Appa Rao rejoined the office. From the documents available, it can be noted that a sequence of actions to be carried out by specific individuals that include some specific sections of students, teachers and non-teaching staff and also police personnel was prepared to be implemented. For example:

  1. “Receiving” Prof. Appa Rao near Gachibowli Stadium at 8am on 22nd March 2016.
  2. “Greeting” of Prof. Appa Rao by the Life Sciences Students at the VC’s lodge upon his arrival.
  3. “Request the support” of police

Continue reading Statement from SC/ST Faculty Forum and Concerned Teachers, Univ of Hyderabad →

Bad ideas, Culture, Debates, Education, Government, Law, Mirror Worlds, Movements, Politics, Violence/Conflict

Open Letter from Hyderabad University Alumni against Repression on HCU Campus and the Return of Appa Rao as VC

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Guest Post by UoH/HCU Alumni

UoH Alumni Open Letter against the institutional murder of Rohith Vemula, the return of Dr. Appa Rao as UoH’s VC, and the brutal display of state violence in campus.

As alumni of the University of Hyderabad, we observed with dismay the return of Dr. Appa Rao Podile as the Vice-Chancellor of University of Hyderabad (UoH) on March 22. We strongly condemn this provocation that led to the police brutality on campus. The shutdown of the university which has followed is unacceptable and unlawful.

A couple of days ago, a report ranked three departments of the University of Hyderabad among the top 500 university facilities in the world. The education we received at UoH helped us to not only shape our careers, but also to question, critique and analyse concepts such as equality, fraternity and social justice.  Upon entering a central university of this size, we were exposed to the sheer diversity of this country. UoH, like other central universities in India, is an amalgam of many languages, cultures, religions and regions.

However, much like the rest of the country, the university campus is a space where systematically oppressive caste structures operate and are institutionally legitimised. Recent events at UoH have left us dismayed and angered at the treatment meted out to peacefully protesting students at the hands of the administration and the police.

Continue reading Open Letter from Hyderabad University Alumni against Repression on HCU Campus and the Return of Appa Rao as VC →

Bad ideas, Education, Law, Metropolis, Mirror Worlds, Movements, Politics, Violence/Conflict

Students Testify to Police Brutality on the HCU Campus in Hyderabad : Guest Post from HCU Students

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Guest Post by HCU students (Taken from Youtube Uploads and Facebook Status Updates)

[Since there is a virtual media blackout of the situation in Hyderabad Central University we have decided to share video testimonies by students of the violence unleashed by CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) and the RAF (Rapid Action Force) which were called in at the behest of the Vice Chancellor Appa Rao – who is already under a cloud for having created the circumstances that led to Rohith Vemula’s suicide, which many students consider to be an ‘institutional murder’. When Appa Rao returned to the University, students were enraged, and they started a ‘sit-in’ outside the Vice Chancellor’s lodge. It was then that the central forces were called in. Later, electricity, water and internet facilities were cut off. The debit card used by the students, linked to the State Bank of India branch on the campus, were blocked. The non teaching staff was persuaded not to give food in university hostel canteens to students. Some students who started a community kitchen were taken away by the police. One of them, a research scholar called Uday Bhanu was so badly beaten up that he has been admitted to intensive care at a local hospital. His condition remains critical.

Courtest, 'University Community' & '#DalitLivesMatter'
Courtest, ‘University Community’ & ‘#DalitLivesMatter’

Hyderabad Central University, is now a virtual prison camp.

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According to reports, 36 students are still missing. Several are hospitalized and are being treated for injuries. At least one of the students is in a critical condition.12671963_1656941941246803_5210071450630800436_o Continue reading Students Testify to Police Brutality on the HCU Campus in Hyderabad : Guest Post from HCU Students →

Education, Right watch

Joint Action Committee for Social Justice condemns police brutality at University of Hyderabad

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The Joint Action Committee for Social Justice condemns in the strongest terms the brutal physical and sexual assaults unleashed by the police, Rapid Action Force (RAF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and security personnel, acting upon the orders of the Central and state government, upon students and teachers at the University of Hyderabad on 22nd March. While male personnel were hitting women students, men students, faculty they hurled abuses. During the lathi charge, the CRPF and RAF badly beat hundreds of protesting students in campus, abusing them as “anti-nationals” and yelled that they will file sedition charges on us. Students were beaten for even standing outside their departments, with the police telling them to “go sit inside and study”. Women students were beaten and grabbed by male police officers. After the forcible eviction from the lodge compound the police chased us for another 2 kilo meters, and grabbed and arrested students.Students suffered grievous injuries and were taken to hospitals. The phones of several students were confiscated while they video recorded the brutality. During the lathi charge the police singled out students and hit them even after the crowd had dispersed. Hostels were searched as police appeared to have a pre-determined list of students and faculty they were trying to pick up, which media have said was a list directly supplied by the Podile Apparao.

36 students including 3 professors were picked up yesterday around 5 pm, they were brutally beaten in a police van, and detained in unknown locations all night. We have some information now that they were detained in Miyapur and Narsing police stations; the police blatantly lied to people who went to Miyapur police station that they were not holding any people there.

Emergency like situation imposed on campus.

The moment Podile Apparao entered the campus, the first thing that happened was absolute internet shut down for students. Continue reading Joint Action Committee for Social Justice condemns police brutality at University of Hyderabad →

Debates, Education, Politics, Right watch

Medical professionals challenge Indian Medical Association (IMA)

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STATEMENT BY MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS RAISING QUESTIONS TO IMA

The National President and Honorary Secretary General of Indian Medical Association (IMA), on behalf of its 2.6 lakh members, have written a letter to Home Minister Shri Raj Nath Singh condemning the ‘anti-national’ incident that had taken place recently at JNU. The office bearers have appealed to the government to take strict and necessary action against any persons or organizations or group carrying out any ‘anti-national’ protests, speeches, debates or writings in the country. They have also appealed to the government that investigations should be fair and free and the culprits be punished as early as possible as per the law so that in future no one can dare to do ‘anti-national’ activities in the country. The office-bearers have extended their whole-hearted support to the government in this matter, again, on behalf of it 2.6 lakh members. As per the statement of IMA’s Honorary Secretary General published in The Hindu on 24th February 2016, this letter is also an intervention to tell medical students, nursing students etc. that ‘anti-national’ activities will not be tolerated and that such ‘anti-national’ incidents should be curbed and not debated upon.

For anybody who may be unaware of the ‘anti-national’ incident at JNU being referred to in the above-mentioned letter, here is a description: Continue reading Medical professionals challenge Indian Medical Association (IMA) →

Education, Right watch

‘Danger to Constitutional Values’: Statement by retired civil servants

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Full text of the appeal sent to the President of India and the PMO,  issued by 17 retired civil servants belonging to different All India and Central Services.

We, the persons listed below, a group of retired civil servants belonging to different All India and Central Services who have worked in the Government of India (GoI), State Governments and a wide range of governmental and other institutions would urge all Constitutional institutions in India, the media and the general public to reflect upon the deeply disquieting trends visible in the public sphere and in our polity today. These developments are causing deep anguish to us as they question some of the fundamental Constitutional principles and legal safeguards we have long taken for granted. Some of these are mentioned below:

1) The discrimination against Scheduled Caste students and an attempt to clamp down upon Ambedkar study groups as found in IIT, Chennai, and in the University of Hyderabad. The tragic suicide of Rohith Vemula has highlighted the unwarranted interference of the GoI in the University of Hyderabad and its targeting a group of students, who did not subscribe to a narrow concept of nationalism.

Continue reading ‘Danger to Constitutional Values’: Statement by retired civil servants →

Debates, Education, Right watch

ABVP Attack on Prof Chaman Lal at event on Bhagat Singh: Vidhya

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Guest Post by VIDHYA

On the 18th of March, Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch – a student organization in Delhi University and Aahwan: Ek Janwadi Sanskritik Muhim – a cultural organization, organized a talk and discussion with Prof. Chaman Lal on ‘The Life and Writings of Bhagat Singh’. Dr. Vikas Gupta of the History Department in DU introduced it and facilitated the discussion. This event was organized in the Main Gate of the Arts Faculty of DU after several attempts to book a venue inside Arts Faculty failed. We had hoped to organize a discussion on the life of a revolutionary and the relevance of his message today to the students of the university.

The talk was scheduled to begin at 12 pm. At the same time, another cultural organization, namely Sangwari, came to the area outside the Main Gate to perform a play (nukkad-natak) on the JNU issue. Though this play disrupted our talk, since they were not permitted to perform in the Law Faculty, we agreed and asked our speaker and discussant to wait till the end of the performance. Minutes into the play, the ABVP goons disrupted the performance. At first, it wasn’t clear if the fracas was part of the play or not. But as soon as we realized that 15 or so members of ABVP had taken over, all those who had gathered there intervened to stop the hooliganism of these goons. It is important to state here that during the entire time, around 60 to 70 police officers and constables were mute spectators. These ABVP goons started sloganeering and those performing the play dispersed when they realized that they would not be able to perform. Meanwhile, we were waiting to resume the talk by Prof. Chaman Lal.

Continue reading ABVP Attack on Prof Chaman Lal at event on Bhagat Singh: Vidhya →

Bad ideas, Debates, Education, Identities, Language

An Open Letter to Prof. Amita Singh from Kashmiri Students in JNU: Concerned Kashmiri Students in JNU

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Guest Post by Some Kashmiri Students in JNU – See the End of the Post for Names

“Jab kendra main sarkar kamzor ya undecided hogayi to aap ko pata hai ki akhri dinoon main Manmohan Singh ji kuch ni kar rahe thei. State agencies koi kaam ni kar rahi thei. … Usi period main ye sab ghusein hain, jo Kashmiri militants hain aur ye saare hain. Ye usi period main in tatvoon ka yahan par entry hogaya hai. Varna JNU ki history main kabhi bhi is qism ki naare-baazi nahin hui. … anti-national matlab aisi naare-baazi jo desh ki akhandta  aur samprabuta  kei upar prashan chin uthayey. Aise kabhi naare-baazi nahin hui thi.”

When the government at the centre was weak and undecided, as you recall was the case in the last days of Manmohan Singh’s rule, no state agencies were doing their work…it was at that time that all these Kashmiri militants found their way in here (to JNU). It was in that period that these elements made their entry. Otherwise, at no time in JNU’s history have we heard this kind of sloganeering – of the anti-national type, meaning the kind of sloganeering that brings the akhandta, the inviolate integrity and samprabhuta/sovereignty of the country into question. This kind of sloganeering never happened before

(An excerpt from Prof. Amita Singh’s interview to the Uttar Pradesh Patrika newspaper, transcribed from its youtube upload) 

Dear Prof. Amita Singh,

The above quote is to remind you about the prejudiced, baseless, and ill-founded allegations against Kashmiri students made by you. In your clarification (through media), you claimed that “the interview was an informal one” and that you were not aware of it being put on a website.

Continue reading An Open Letter to Prof. Amita Singh from Kashmiri Students in JNU: Concerned Kashmiri Students in JNU →

Debates, Education, Everyday Life, Identities, Images, Law, Movements, Politics

Mera Piya Ghar Aaya: Umar Khalid and Anirban Return to JNU and the Students’ Struggle

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I have come home a little while ago from Jawaharlal Nehru University after listening to Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya take back the night. As I drove home  through the quiet streets of Delhi after midnight it occurred to me that somebody should whisper into Narendra Modi’s ear that he should now start stocking up on sleeping pills. (Maybe Baba Ramdev’s enterprise makes some that he could prescribe to the Prime Minister, unadulterated). With young people like Umar and Anirban as his adversaries, the Prime Minister can only have sleepless nights ahead of him. It is perhaps fortunate for him that the team from Madame Tussaud’s came by and did their job yesterday. Because from now on, his real skin tone will only envy the lustre of his wax work. Umar and Anirban, and their friends, took away the little remaining shine that Modi had left at midnight.

Continue reading Mera Piya Ghar Aaya: Umar Khalid and Anirban Return to JNU and the Students’ Struggle →

Culture, Education, Feminism, Government, Media politics, Right watch

Academics Worldwide Against the Vilification of Nivedita Menon

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[Expressions of support from scholars wanting to sign on are continuing to pour in. We will therefore be continuously adding the names as they come in and keep updating the statement. – AN] 

VICIOUS CAMPAIGN AGAINST FEMINIST SCHOLAR

We, the undersigned, wish to express our shock and indignation at the vicious right wing media campaign conducted over the past few days against well-known feminist scholar and Jawaharlal Nehru University professor Nivedita Menon. This media campaign mischievously decontextualizes her lecture at the public teach-in programme in JNU with the use of selective clips and inflammatory commentary. The television channel Zee has led the main campaign by branding Professor Menon as ‘anti-national’ and instigating viewers to take action. Such branding is tantamount to a television channel acting as both judge and jury, and directly placing an individual’s rights and safety under threat.

The use of television media to attack intellectuals and instigate vigilante action is a feature of authoritarian regimes worldwide.  Similar tendencies are visible in recent months in India. Singling out individuals and creating a mass-frenzy against them by using the medium of TV is a dangerous trend that directly incites and encourages violence. This is a deep disregard for any process of law. We saw Zee TV do this earlier when doctored videos became the basis of arrest and harassment of JNU students. In this case, Twitter and social media campaigns have followed attacks on Professor Menon, demanding the framing of sedition charges against her and wielding open threats of rape. Most disturbingly, there are media reports of police complaints filed by interested parties demanding ‘action’ against Professor Menon.

Professor Menon is a renowned scholar and feminist thinker; her texts are used in university syllabi worldwide. As a prominent scholar and activist she has intervened in academic and public debates for decades. Professor Menon has also been known as an inspiring teacher for thirty years, guiding generations of students who now work in India and abroad. She has never shied away from intellectual debate in academic and public forums, passionately intervening in debates on feminism and social theory. This is the first time that her own freedom to articulate her ideas has been so viciously attacked in an orchestrated media campaign.

The freedom to articulate ideas is the basis of a university. When opinions voiced in a public lecture by an academic are made part of a selective media campaign that seeks not to debate but simply to malign, both democracy and the university are under threat. What is under question are not just Professor Menon’s ideas but also the very freedom for academics and citizens. We condemn this media campaign and associated threats, urging all academics and intellectuals to stand with Professor Menon at this time.

We call on the Vice Chancellor of JNU to swiftly defend Professor Menon from such attacks and protect the sanctity of university debate. We urge the JNU administration to stand by its faculty’s right to hold individual opinions and condemn all efforts to diminish this. We call on the university to immediately ensure that freedoms that form its very academic basis are not eroded in this moment. We call further for every censure and action against the unlawful actions of the television channels in question. Finally, we urge all well wishers of a democratic India to stand by Professor Menon for their own freedoms, and not just hers. Continue reading Academics Worldwide Against the Vilification of Nivedita Menon →

Bad ideas, Culture, Debates, Education, Everyday Life, Government, Identities, Images, Metropolis, Movements, Politics

Save Democracy, Release Umar, Anirban and SAR Geelani, Enact Rohith Act – JNU Marches again in Delhi

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For the fourth time since the early February, students, faculty and their friends marched in Delhi. Once again, there were thousands of people, walking from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar. This time, there was focused attention on the demand for the release of the detained JNU students – Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, the DU Professor S.A.R Geelani, solidarity with JNU Prof. Nivedita Menon and the poet-scientist Gauhar Raza against their media trials, and a direct attack on the creeping fascism of the Modi regime. Here are some moments from this march.

(Thanks to Aniket Prantdarshi, Kavita Krishnan, Samim Asgor Ali and Anish Ahluwalia, ‘We are JNU’ for their photos and videos, which I have taken from their Facebook pages and Youtube Channels)

Continue reading Save Democracy, Release Umar, Anirban and SAR Geelani, Enact Rohith Act – JNU Marches again in Delhi →

Bad ideas, Debates, Education, Government, Law, Media politics, Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

Statement in Support of Nivedita Menon and Gauhar Raza

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We, the undersigned, unequivocally condemn the unwarranted attacks against Prof. Nivedita Menon by Zee News and IBN 7 and Mr. Gauhar Raza by Zee News. Prof. Menon is an acclaimed political scientist and writer whose work and integrity are respected all over the world. Her contributions to the women’s movement and gender justice through her writing and participation have been very significant.   Mr. Raza is a reputed scientist, poet and filmmaker, who has worked in a sustained way for peace and amity. The two channels have engaged in irresponsible and unethical attacks based on video clips taken out of context, creating an atmosphere of threat, intimidation and incitement to violence. Three false cases have been filed against Prof. Menon in this media-created environment of shrill jingoism. We request the Press Council of India and the Broadcast Association to take necessary action against these channels for their unacceptable and unlawful reportage. We also demand that the two channels issue a public apology for their relentless and defamatory attacks against Prof. Menon and Mr. Raza.

Continue reading Statement in Support of Nivedita Menon and Gauhar Raza →

Bad ideas, Culture, Debates, Education, Identities, Law, Left watch, Media politics

Of False Binaries and ‘Dirty’ Politics: Divya Kannan

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This is a guest post by DIVYA KANNAN

Manu Joseph’s latest commentary regarding the ongoing crisis in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the larger debate on Indian ‘nationalism’ smacks of crass elitism, as a journalist pithily pointed out online. If one were to use a ‘different term’, as Joseph himself keeps venturing to do in his writing, it is simply nauseating. This is for several reasons. To begin with, he harbours a convoluted understanding of what research in higher educational institutes entails, the nature of student politics, the lasting dangers of right wing assaults, and the pathetic misrepresentation carried out by the media, including himself, of the pressing issues in this country. Continue reading Of False Binaries and ‘Dirty’ Politics: Divya Kannan →

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