JNU action against prof: Academics seek Prez's intervention

Two prominent academics have written to President Ram Nath Kovind, seeking his intervention in restoring the "atmosphere of healthy debate" at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

Professor Judith Butler of the University of California, Berkeley, and Professor Partha Chatterjee of Columbia University, have sent a letter to the president along with a petition signed by 1,800 people that questions the action by the JNU administration against Professor Nivedita Menon, who teaches at the School of International Studies. The petition has been signed by many other academics, artists, lawyers, journalists, and civil rights activists from around the world.

The JNU administration initiated disciplinary action against Menon last month and she was removed from the chairpersonship of the JNU's Centre for Comparative Politics and Political Theory School for allegedly misbehaving and insulting members of a selection committee during a meeting.

"We are concerned about the way Prof Nivedita Menon has had to face repeated attacks from the university administration on her basic right to hold an opinion," read the letter signed by Butler and Chatterjee. It added: " We are extremely worried that the hostile atmosphere created by the JNU administration that will seriously harm Professor Menon's ability to teach, carry out research and pursue intellectual collaborations in a peaceful and productive manner." They also demanded that the professor should be reinstated immediately as chairperson of her centre.

Global support

Professor Judith Butler of the University of California, Berkeley, and Professor Partha Chatterjee of Columbia University, have sent a letter to the president along with a petition signed by 1,800 people. 
The letter questions the action by the JNU administration against Professor Nivedita Menon, who teaches at the School of International Studies.