HYDERABAD: Condemning the attack on Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students and faculty by 'armed goons', students and academicians formed a human chain at Sundarayya Vignana Kendram on Friday and demanded the removal of JNU Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar from office. The protestors also condemned the cases booked against JNU Students’ Union president Aishe Ghosh.
Demanding to roll back the proposed fee hike at JNU, Centre for Educational Studies and Service (CESS) chairman Nagati Narayana said, "JNU Vice-Chancellor and his henchmen have transformed the university into 'Kishkindha', the kingdom of monkey king Sugriva in Ramayana." He added that if the fee was increased, the government should bear the additional expenses and not the students.
Meanwhile, extending solidarity with the JNU students, the Students’ Parliament of IIIT-Hyderabad demanded prompt and appropriate action against the perpetrators. In a statement on Friday, they said the educational institutions that were once the safe and free spaces for learning, discussion, debate and dissent were transforming into a place of terror.
"The recent attacks on academic institutions, including Jamia Milia Islamia, Aligarh Muslim University and Banaras Hindu University, shows an alarming trend of university administrations failing to provide a secure environment for their students to study," said the statement. They demanded a prompt and impartial inquiry into the events of January 5, 2020, on the JNU campus.