JNU removes 7 deans and chairpersons

A large number of teachers and students from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) protested on Thursday after the JNU administration issued notification removing seven chairpersons and deans for not complying or refusing to implement the recent attendance system.

"This decision of removing professors has been taken in a hurry and it is unfortunate that it happened in a manner where the Executive Committee gave power to the Vice-Chancellor to take a decision overnight," said Sucheta Mahajan, who has been replaced as chairperson of the Centre for Historical Studies.

Protestors who assembled near the Faculty Centre in the afternoon claimed that these decisions are cumulatively "aimed at destroying the values of equality and social justice" that have long formed the bedrock of this university.

"It is an organised plan that has been implemented in a strategic manner. Earlier it was students who were penalised. Now, in the second phase, teachers are being targeted in order to send a message to the agitating students who are adamant in their disagreement with the rightwing forces," said Sudhir K Suthar, the secretary of Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association (JNUTA).