NEW DELHI: Three after an altercation over non-vegetarian food rocked the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), the hostel and the mess committees demanded an independent inquiry against the wardens of Kaveri hostel for their alleged inability to control the situation.
In a statement on Wednesday, the hostel committee stated that the unfortunate set of events that transpired inside Kaveri hostel on Sunday were a “disappointing consequence of administrative callousness; suppression and politicization of the Right to Choice of Food.”
The mess committee is a democratically elected body which decides the mess menu in a democratic manner, it said, adding that non-veg and vegetarian food is served on 4 days of the week- Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. “The menu for any single day cannot be changed unilaterally without such dire reasons as that of supply shortage of raw materials. If it must change, such a change should be incorporated through a General Body Meeting (GBM) amongst the residents of the hostel, and must be of a permanent character,” read the statement.
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad has been claiming that the Left backed organisations as well as the hostel committee had long objected to its celebrations for Ram Navami pooja even though the outfit had no objection to the food menu on that day.
To this allegation, the hostel committee contended that the outfit was unable to present any evidence that any outfit or hostel committee or residents had objected to the pooja. ‘‘In fact, there are videos to prove the contrary. Navami pooja began at 4 pm and concluded around 7pm, while iftaar took place at 6:45pm, with preparations beginning 30 minutes earlier. The pooja happened side by side with the iftaar quite seamlessly.”
The ABVP members twice threatened the meat supplier who has also given statement on what transpired with him that day, the committee claimed. In a similar vein, the mess committee claimed that the wardens attempted to impose unilaterally that non-veg food should not be cooked on April 10 due to pooja in the hostel premises. ‘’The warden(s) cannot interfere with the mess menu.
Despite such repeated requests, nothing was given in writing by any official presiding over Kaveri hostel,’’ it said. “Neither did any warden try to intervene at the scene when the chicken meat supplier was being threatened and sent away, even after being requested by the Kaveri residents to help in the situation.”