FEDCUTA PRESS RELEASE, 15.01.2017
The FEDCUTA notes with concern the way in which recent events in JNU have shaped up. The most striking and condemnable of these developments is the attack on freedom of expression of teachers and students by the administration. In a series of letters to the faculty members of the university explanation is being asked for the public lectures they have been giving on various issues. This is combined with surveillance of the public activities and speeches of the faculty which are then circulated as doctored audios and videos. This is indeed an attempt to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. In a press statement the JNUTA has rightly condemned these moves.
The FEDCUTA also condemns the attempts by the JNU administration to water down the admission policy which caters to the marginalised and weaker sections of the Indian society. For a university to grow and thrive it is of utmost importance that it remains inclusive in character. The inclusive nature of JNU has been built over decades of struggle by its teachers and students movement. This must be sustained.
For taking forward both freedom of speech and expression and the university’s inclusive character the JNU teachers and students have over the years worked hard for the expansion of democratic space in the university. The administration’s response by putting restrictions on demonstrations and public lectures in the vicinity of the administrative block of the university is a manifestation of what the JNUTA has called the shrinking of the democratic space on the campus. Indeed, its outrageously visible expression is the caging of areas of the administrative block where the democratic protesters used to gather.
The FEDCUTA demands that the intimidating and undemocratic measures by the JNU administration must be immediately rolled back and be put to an end forthwith. It is imperative that the administration should open a dialogue on all major issues facing the university. This can be the only way forward.
Nandita Narain Ajay Patnaik
(President FEDCUTA) (Secretary FEDCUTA)
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