NEW DELHI: The JNUSU on Tuesday said it reiterated its position to have a discussion on its demands regarding the hostel fee hike, in a meeting called by the new Ministry of Human Resource Development Secretary. “On our part, we clearly stated that the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union wants a resolution in keeping with the spirit and concerns of the struggle that the students have been fighting since the last 58 days,” JNUSU said in a statement.
“We also requested the MHRD to expedite a process where our concerns are speedily addressed and the deadlock resolves. However, the present MHRD Secretary was shockingly and unfortunately not even updated about the crisis and hence could not give any concrete reply to the JNUSU,” it added.
The union said that it wanted a solution that is acceptable to the student community, adding that “the onus of restoring normalcy on campus lies with the administration”.
Condemning the administration for hosting the examination through e-mail and WhatsApp, the union said that it was “a smokescreen to depict to the outside world that everything is normal in JNU when it is not”.
It further said that the administration should have instead initiated a process for resolving the crisis by responding to the discussions held at the MHRD weeks back. “The movement has seen students stand up to circulars, notices, threats and police brutality. Let us not forget that it is the strength of this movement which has brought the MHRD and the administration to the negotiating table,” it added.