New Delhi: Surajit Mazumdar, a professor of economics at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), said he has been associated with the varsity for over three decades but never witnessed the kind of violence that unfolded in the campus on Sunday.
In an interview with News18, Mazumdar, also the secretary of JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA), blamed the administration for Sunday’s violence and said masked goons threatened the families of faculty members. Excerpts:
You’ve been associated with this university for over three decades. Can you recall such a violent assault happening in JNU before?
Never. This is the first time something like this has happened. This is an unprecedented situation. I was a student here in the 80s, I became the president of the university’s student union way back in 1988 and have been a faculty member since 2014. Never has such a violence been wrecked on this institution before.
Could you tell us the sequence of events as you witnessed unfolding in the campus?
A mob was first allowed to enter the university and then it was allowed to go on a rampage in hostels and in different parts of the university campus. The JNU’s teachers had organised an assembly at Sabarmati at 4pm with the objective of appealing for peace in the campus. Our appeal was that there should be no violence on the campus. That very program was attacked by these goons. Stones were thrown by these masked goons on teachers who had assembled there, and as teachers fled the spot these goons chased them, their cars were vandalised. But it did not stop just there.
These goons then entered the family quarters of the faculty members. There were women and children who were fearing for their lives. These goons entered the transit house quarters and started banging the doors of the family quarters of the teachers and professors.
Have the masked goons been thrown out of the campus by the police?
That is the thing! We are not aware if all the goons have been thrown out of the campus. Or if they’re still inside. We don’t know if the campus is safe because if the administration and the security have connived in this assault, and if they have, we can’t be sure about the situation inside. Therefore, a large number of students are huddled together at Sabarmati because they’re not sure about their safety. They’re not feeling secure in their hostels. We want the situation to normalise. We want police to deal with these goons and leave the campus as soon as possible.
What do you think led to the incidents of violence in the campus? Who do you blame?
The JNU is an extremely peaceful campus. It is known for its lively culture of deliberation and discussion, but this administration has destroyed all that. If students have any grievance, there is no means of redressing it, because all means of redressal have been destroyed. Instead of addressing students’ concerns, the administration of this university has always tried to provoke students. So we are saying that the administration is directly responsible for what happened today.
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