JNU has Fined 10 Student Activists a Total of 4 Lakh in a Year

As the year-end break for Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students is nearing its end, and as registrations for the next semester are soon to begin, arbitrary and vindictive fines – amounting to approximately Rs 4 lakh – have also been imposed on 10 student activists. The JNU administration has been fining students who oppose the autocratic and authoritarian diktats of JNU Vice-Chancellor, M. Jagadesh Kumar, who in turn is just following the wishes of the BJP government in power at the Centre.

Any students protesting against the exclusionary and arbitrary decisions of the university authorities or those in power at the Centre, have been fined a minimum of Rs. 6,000, says Dipsita Dhar, a student activist with the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) in JNU. “Two years back, the average fine was Rs. 2,000, now it is around Rs. 10,000. These fines are a way of extorting from the student activists,” she told Newsclick. “Fines are imposed when registrations or submissions are coming up, so that students have to pay them in order to continue with their studies,” she added.

Also Read:Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union Debarred from Academic Council Meeting

On July 16, two students were fined Rs 10,000 each for “shouting slogans while the renaming ceremony of the JNU Central Library after Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was being held on 14thApril, 2017 which led to disruption and interruption in the programme,” which has to be submitted within 10 days of the issuance of this letter. These two students are Tabrez Hasan, former joint secretary JNUSU, and president All India Students’ Association (AISA), and Sunny Dhiman, a student activist with the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI).

Fines have also been imposed on students for protesting in an Academic Council (AC) meeting last year, because the vice chancellor wasn’t allowing the Union (JNUSU) office-holders to speak. Satarupa Chakraborty, former General Secretary of JNUSU and an activist with the SFI, and other office-holders of JNUSU have been fined Rs. 10,000 each for this.

Another bizarre fine of Rs. 20,000 has been imposed on Manish Kumar Meena, a student activist with the NSUI, for protesting against the prime minister’s pakoracomment, by frying pakorason the road inside the university. He has also been instructed to shift from his present hostel accommodation.

Also Read: HLEC Strikes Again in JNU

Suresh, a student activist of SFI, recounted the events that took place On April 27, 2017. Students had gathered outside the Central Library to protest for their various grievances. For the event, many “eminent guests” had been invited, and the VC was also present. Therefore, the students went inside and started shouting sloganeering for social justice, implementation of reservations, against seat cuts and against the UGC gazette notification of 2016 which drastically reduced the seats of M Phil and Ph D courses, he told Newsclick.

All the four current office-bearers of JNUSU have been fined a total of 40,000 each for three separate offences that have taken place over the last year. This is a direct attack on the students’ union, as it is their function to represent the voice of the students, and get their grievances addressed. But, it seems that not even the official representatives of the students of JNU are spared, rather, it seems like they are especially targeted by the VC and the administration.

Also Read: A Contempt of Court Ruling Against JNUSU won’t Dissolve their Collective Resistance

What choice do the distressed and besieged students of JNU have? They are not allowed to protest within 100 meters of the Administrative Block (one of the reasons why JNUSU office-holders have been fined). They are not allowed to raise their voices inside the AC meetings. Rather, upon protesting against this, they are fined heavily. Neither is sloganeering allowed. One can’t even hold a symbolic protest of frying pakoras, a protest which inconvenienced no one. No one excluding the authorities. What other options are left for these students? They will have to approach the courts, as they have had to repeatedly do, since paying the fine has been made necessary for registrations, submissions, fellowships/scholarships, hostel accommodation and even medical facilities.