JNU: Controversy and Energy Outage

The Jawaharlal Nehru College Campus (JNU) was plunged into darkness an hour earlier than the controversial BBC documentary “India: The Modi Query” was to be screened on the campus.

The Jawaharlal Nehru College College students’ Union had deliberate to display the primary episode of the two-part BBC documentary, “India: The Modi Query.” Simply an hour earlier than the screening, at 8.30 p.m., the campus had a blackout. It was solely after midnight that the ability was restored after a gaggle of scholars took to protesting.

In keeping with the scholars, this was a deliberate blackout, and with the intention to present their protest, many college students watched elements of the documentary on their telephones and laptops.

Uncommon blackout

Such a protracted energy lower on campus was uncommon and infrequently seen. BSES, which is accountable for the ability on campus, made no point out of an outage on its web site. The one energy outage discover displayed on it was that there can be a upkeep outage within the neighborhood between 11 a.m. and three p.m.

One grasp’s scholar commented that there isn’t any electrical energy or web within the hostels and had reached out to the hostel warden, however there was no reply from their facet. The facility outage affected the school housing too. JNU V-C Santishree Pandit was not accessible for remark, and Deputy Registrar Ravi Kant Sinha mentioned he was not authorised to touch upon this matter.

Official Response to the Incident

The JNU Vice Chancellor and Registrar knowledgeable an official from the Union Ministry that there’s a huge energy failure that has affected one-third of the campus and that there isn’t any deliberate energy lower.

The college administration then formally launched an announcement wherein college students have been suggested in opposition to screening this film. As no prior permission to conduct such an occasion has been obtained from college administration, such an occasion might disturb the peace and concord of the campus. The scholars are therefore suggested to cancel the occasion; in any other case, strict disciplinary motion will likely be taken in opposition to them.

The scholars responded that the screening of the film is a voluntary motion by the scholars and that it doesn’t violate any provision of the JNU Act/Statute/ Ordinances/ Guidelines and Rules governing the College. And their intention is to by no means trigger any disturbances, as coming to the screening itself is a voluntary selection.

College students Response

Aishe Ghosh, president of the Jawaharlal Nehru College College students’ Union, was heard in a video saying that in the event that they flip off one display, a whole bunch extra will likely be turned on. She later acknowledged that that is the primary time they’ve obtained an administration advisory for a film screening. This by no means occurred whereas they have been screening ‘The Kashmir Recordsdata’.  In keeping with her, at any time when there’s a energy lower, the campus group is all the time notified of it, however that was not the case this time.

At 10:30 p.m., there was a minor incident when stones have been thrown on the crowd of scholars gathered to observe the documentary. However no person is certain the place it got here from, because it was pitch black outdoors. A PhD scholar claimed he was hit on the shoulder, and others have been injured as properly. Following this incident, college students marched to the primary gate and raised slogans previous 11:30 p.m.

When requested in regards to the energy outage and stone-pelting, the DCP of Southwest Delhi mentioned that they had but to obtain any complaints and that motion can be taken as soon as they did. However slightly previous 11 p.m., two PCR vans have been stationed outdoors the campus gate.

JNU is Not New to Controversies

There have been a number of incidents at Jawaharlal Nehru College (JNU) over time. Among the most notable incidents embrace:

• In 2016, a gaggle of scholars have been arrested and charged with sedition for allegedly shouting anti-India slogans throughout a campus occasion.
• In January 2020, JNU college students protested in opposition to a proposed charge hike, which they mentioned would make the college unaffordable for a lot of college students. The protest turned violent, and a number of other college students have been injured.
• In 2020, a big group of masked women and men entered the JNU campus and attacked college students and college members, injuring many individuals.
• In August 2020, college students and lecturers at JNU went on strike to protest the vice chancellor’s determination to hike hostel charges and introduce a gown code.

BBC Documentary

The most recent row at JNU erupted over a documentary launched by the BBC. In keeping with authorities officers, the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Modi has the potential to have a damaging affect on the nation’s pleasant relations with overseas nations in addition to public order throughout the nation.

The BBC documentary is about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his response to the Gujarat riots in 2002, when he was in energy within the state.