NEW DELHI: The All India Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisations(AIFUCTO) and Federation of Central Universities Teachers Associations (FEDCUTA) on Tuesday issued a statement demanding the chief minister to intervene and reinstate Salil Mishra and Asmita, the professors who were sacked from service.
The associations, who participated from different universities, stated that the only objective of this action is to scare independent-minded and secular teachers.
The statement read, “These two professors are well-known academicians and were the founding faculty members of AUD. They were the Pro Vice-Chancellor and acting Registrar in 2018-19 when they implemented the collective decision of the University’s Board of Management to regularise thirty-eight fully qualified. Contractual, administrative staff with ten years of service. It must be kept in mind that the PVC and Registrar, as officers of the University, are duty-bound to carry out the decisions of the highest executive committee of the university.”
Meanwhile, AIFUCT president Moushumi Basu said, “Since 2020, the AUD management appointed three enquiry committees to investigate alleged anomalies in the regularisation order. None of these three committees found any evidence of corruption in the execution of the regularisation order.”
The teachers, in a statement, appealed to Chief Minister Atishi to immediately reinstate Professor Salil Mishra and Professor Kabra and check the state government-run university’s downward slide.
Joint Forum for Movement on Education (JFME) chairperson Nandita Narain said, “As representatives of democratic teachers’ bodies in central and state universities, we warn the authorities that repeated attacks on the academic freedom and dignity of teachers, as well as the Constitutional right to dissent, unionise and organise peaceful protests, will lead to severe academic erosion, unrest and agitation in universities across the country.”