Want to correct public perception that we`re tukde-tukde: JNU VC after meat row on campus

`Young people have opinions and we appreciate diversity and dissent but let`s not end up having violence,` JNU VC Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit said

New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is once again in news for the wrong reasons. A scuffle broke out between two student groups allegedly over eating non-vegetarian food on the JNU campus on Ram Navami (Sunday, April 10), leaving at least six injured and thereby drawing sharply polarised reactions, with politicians also getting into the argument.

Addressing the recent violence, JNU VC Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit said, "JNU is a free university. We respect individuals' choices, it's a melting pot of all identities. Young people have opinions and we appreciate diversity and dissent but let's not end up having violence." She added, "The issue erupted on whether 'Ram Navami Havan' should be conducted and regarding the food menu. These are the versions of the two groups. The proctorial inquiry was ordered and we're waiting for reports, it'll be an impartial inquiry."

Dhulipudi Pandit also went on to emphasize that JNUites are as "nationalistic as anybody else". "I want to correct the public perception that we are tukde-tukde....after I've taken over I've not seen anybody talking like that. We are as nationalistic as anybody else," the JNU VC said.

Meanwhile earlier, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association (JNUTA) said it is unfortunate that the university's registrar has given a communal colour to the April 10 clash on the campus. They also urged the vice-chancellor to announce a thorough and impartial inquiry into the clash that broke out in the Kaveri Hostel mess, allegedly over the serving non-vegetarian food.

"We would like to express our dismay at a press release dated April 11 from the registrar, giving the whole incident a communal colour, whereas it is clear that the havan, for which there was no permission given by the warden, was not disrupted by anyone," the JNUTA said in a statement.

Noting that giving a communal dimension to the incident by the registrar is "most unfortunate", the association said it seems that he has already passed a judgment without any inquiry into the incident, "which makes his assertion irresponsible". "We hope that your good offices would prevail and that you would take an objective and a non-partisan view, otherwise any inquiry would be seen as already prejudiced," it said.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party, on Sunday protested at the JNU campus, demanding that non-vegetarian food should not be prepared inside the mess on the occasion of the festival. The ABVP also accused the National Students Union of India (NSUI) and Left-backed students of preventing them from worshipping on Ram Navami.