JNU issues show-cause notice to Aishe Ghosh, another student for 2018 protest

The Jawaharlal Nehru University has issued show-cause notices to JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh and another student for a protest they held in 2018, calling it an act of "indiscipline and misconduct".

Reacting to the notice, Ghosh said despite the closure of several administrative offices owing to the Covid pandemic, the varsity's chief proctor's office "has been regularly functioning to intimidate and punish students".

The notice issued to Ghosh on June 11 said she had "been found involved in disruption" of the Board of Studies (BOS) meeting on December 5.

Professor Rajnish Kumar Mishra, chief proctor of the varsity, confirmed the development.

When asked why the notices were issued nearly three years after the protest, he said, "They (students) had blocked the university over the issue of fee hike for a long time and then there were intermittent disturbances. In 2020, the pandemic situation started. We have begun the process now".

The notice read, "This kind of activity dangerous in nature and falls under Item Category of the Statute 25 of the Statutes of the University which states -- All acts of violence and all forms of coercion such as gheraos, sit-ins or any variation of the same which disrupts the normal academic and administrative functioning of the university and or any act which incites or leads to violence".

Calling her protest "an act of indiscipline and misconduct", the notice sought an explanation on "why disciplinary action should not be initiated" against her.

Ghosh has been given time till June 21 to reply to the notice, "failing which it will be presumed that you have nothing to say in your defense and this office will be free to take appropriate action against you", it said.

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In a Facebook post, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Student' Union president said, "In JNU, several administrative office are not functioning citing pandemic situation, scholarships are not getting disbursed, hostel allotment for first years are not happening, water crisis is going on in the campus, vaccination for students are not happening.

"But the chief proctor's office has been regularly functioning to intimidate and punish students."

Questioning the priority of the varsity administration, she said, "While thousands of students in our campus are suffering, a huge section everyday is being pushed out of university due to discrimination. The JNU administration is in glee to further fulfil its anti-student policies."