The eight complainants said they were being pressurised to withdraw their complaints.
A day after Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) professor Atul Johri was arrested and later granted bail in connection with the alleged cases of sexual harassment, the complainants alleged that the varsity administration was trying to shield him by giving the entire issue a "political colour" on Wednesday.
The eight complainants from JNU's School of Life Sciences (SLS), where Johri is a professor, during a press conference said they were being pressurised to withdraw their complaints. "There is a lot of pressure on us from various sources to withdraw the complaint. In fact, the excuse of attendance is being made to give this entire issue a political colour. There is no relation between the attendance row and sexual harassment," they said.
Reacting on Johri's claim that he has been a "victim of Left supporters", the complainants said, "While the truth remains that many of us are registered members and supporters of the ABVP., we want this case to be taken as a serious case of sexual harassment and no political undertone should be given to it.
"We have taken immense courage to come out and speak. We have put our academic careers, personal and professional lives at stake. If we don't speak up now, the situation will not change and other female students who are pursuing their research under Johri would go through the same experience," they said.
The group of women, now popularly known as 'JNU's eight', had registered multiple complaints of sexual harassment against Johri on March 16. The matter came in the light when an SLS student had filed a police complaint saying the professor, who was also her supervisor, would ask her uncomfortable questions about her relationships with men, make jokes with sexual undertones and comment on her body.
JNUTA sceptical about autonomy to the university
A day after Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar announced autonomy to 60 universities, including JNU, across the country, the JNUTA members raised their concern over the move on Wednesday. “We are witnessing yet another attack on public-funded higher education, and JNU, in particular, under the garb of autonomous university status. JNUTA strongly opposes the move which is being implemented to promote privatisation/commercialization in the name of autonomy, quality and efficiency,” the JNUTA said in a statement.
The Delhi Assembly passed a resolution asking the Delhi government to provide legal aid to victims of the alleged molestation case in JNU, by appointing special public prosecutors.
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