Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU;ISO:Javāharalāla Neharū Viśvavidyālaya) is apublicresearch university located inDelhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named afterJawaharlal Nehru, India's firstPrime Minister. The university is known for leading faculties and research emphasis onsocial sciences and applied sciences.
History
Administration building at JNU
Jawaharlal Nehru University was established in 1969 by an act ofparliament.[6] It was named afterJawaharlal Nehru, India's firstPrime Minister.G. Parthasarathy was the firstvice-chancellor.[7]Prof. Moonis Raza was the Founder Chairman andRector.[8][9] The bill for the establishment of Jawaharlal Nehru University was placed in theRajya Sabha on 1 September 1965 by the then-Minister of Education,M. C. Chagla. During the discussion that followed, Bhushan Gupta, member of parliament, voiced the opinion that this should not be yet another university. New faculties should be created, includingscientific socialism, and one thing that this university should ensure was to keep noble ideas in mind and provide accessibility to students from weaker sections of society. The JNU Bill was passed inLok Sabha on 16 November 1966 and the JNU Act came into force on 22 April 1969.[10]
TheIndian School of International Studies was merged with the Jawaharlal Nehru University in June 1970. Following the merger, the prefix "Indian" was dropped from the name of the School and it became the School of International Studies of the Jawaharlal Nehru University.[11]
Organisation and administration
Governance
ThePresident of India is the visitor of the university. The chancellor is the nominal head of the university and the vice-chancellor is the executive head of the university. They are both appointed by the visitor on the recommendations of the Executive Council. The Court, the Executive Council, the Academic Council and the Finance Committee are the administrative authorities of the university.
The University Court is the supreme authority of the university and has the power to review the acts of the Executive Council and the Academic Council. The Executive Council is the highest executive body of the university. The Academic Council is the highest academic body of the university and is responsible for the maintenance of standards of instruction, education and examination within the university. It has the right to advise the Executive Council on all academic matters. The Finance Committee is responsible for recommending financial policies, goals, and budgets.[12]
Schools and Centres
The Jawaharlal Nehru University's academic departments are divided into 20 Schools and Centres.[13]
School of Arts & Aesthetics
School of Biotechnology
School of Computational and Integrative Sciences
School of Computer and Systems Sciences
School of Engineering
School of Environmental Sciences
School of International Studies
School of Language Literature and Culture Studies
School of Life Sciences
Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management and Entrepreneurship
School of Physical Sciences
School of Sanskrit and Indic Studies
School of Social Sciences
Centre for the Study of Law and Governance
Special Centre for Disaster Research
Special Centre for E-Learning
Special Centre for Molecular Medicine
Special Centre for Nanoscience
Special Centre for National Security Studies
Special Centre for the Study of North East India
Recognised institutes
JNU has granted recognition and accreditation to the following institutions across the country.[14]
List of Defence Institutions Granted Recognition under JNU
In addition, the university hasexchange programmes and academic collaboration through the signing ofMoUs with 71 universities around the world. The university has also sent a proposal to set up a Center inBihar.[15] TheIndian Administrative Service (IAS) trainee officers will be awarded anMA degree in Public Management from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi.[16]
Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union or JNUSU is the university-wide representative body for students at the university. It is an elected body.
2008–2012 ban on student elections
On 24 October 2008 theSupreme Court of India stayed the JNU elections and banned the JNUSU for not complying with the recommendations of the Lyngdoh committee.[note 1][30] After a prolonged struggle and multi-party negotiations, the ban was lifted on 8 December 2011.[31] After a gap of more than four years, interim elections were scheduled again on 1 March 2012.[32] Following the election results declared on 3 March 2012,All India Students Association (AISA) candidates won all four central panel seats andSucheta De, the president of AISA became the president of JNUSU.[33]
International Student's Association
The International Student's Association (ISA) is an official Jawaharlal Nehru University body. It was instituted in 1985 with a view to promoting friendly relations and cultural exchange. The ISA has a constitution and elected executive, cultural, advisory and financial committees. All foreign students of JNU are also members of the FSA. The university has 133international students.[34]
Activism and controversy
The JNU is infused with an intensepolitical life on campus. Students that leave campus are said to acquire a "permanently changed outlook on life" as a result of student politics. The politicisation of campus life has led to a refusal to brush under the carpet social issues such asfeminism,minority rights, and social and economic justice. All such issues are debated fiercely in formal and informal gatherings.[35]
A sign near the JNU administrative building after theDelhi High Court ruled that students cannot hold protests within a 100-meter periphery of the university's administrative block.[36][37][38][39]
The JNU student politics ishighly left-leaning, though, in recent years,right-wing student groups have also entered the field. Political involvement is "celebratory in spirit." Thestudent union elections are preceded by days of debates and meetings, keeping all students involved. JNU has the reputation of an "unruly bastion ofMarxist revolution." However, the student activists deny the charge, stating that the politics at JNU is issue-based and intellectual.[35]
Iconic statue of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru at administrative block of JNU
The university is known for its alumni who now occupy important political andbureaucratic positions (see Notable alumni below). In part, this is because of the prevalence ofCentre-left student politics and the existence of a written constitution for the university to which notedCommunist Party of India (Marxist) leaderPrakash Karat contributed exhaustively during his education at JNU.[40]
2010 Operation Green Hunt controversy
In 2010 a "JNU Forum Against War on People" was organised "to opposeOperation Green Hunt launched by the government."[41] According to theNSUI national general secretary, Shaikh Shahnawaz, the meeting was organised by the Democratic Students' Union (DSU) andAll India Students Association (AISA) to "celebrate thekilling of 76 CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh."[41] Shaikh Shahnawaz also stated that "they were even shouting slogans like 'India murdābāda, Māvavāda ziṃdābāda'."[41][note 2] NSUI and ABVP activists undertook a march against this meeting,[41] "which was seen as an attempt to support theNaxalites and celebrate the massacre,"[44] after which the various parties clashed.[41] The organisers of the forum said that "the event had nothing to do with the killings in Dantewada".[45]
2015 opposition to saffronisation
In 2015, the JNU Students' Union and theAll India Students Association objected to efforts to create instruction on Indian culture. Opposition to such courses was on the basis that such instruction was an attempt tosaffronise education.[46]Saffronisation refers to right-wing efforts to glorify ancient Hindu culture. The proposed courses were successfully opposed and were, thus, "rolled back." A former student of JNU and a former student union member, Albeena Shakil, claimed thatBJP officials in government were responsible for proposing the controversial courses.[47]
2015 Rainbow Walk
On 28 December 2014, the symbolic "Rainbow Tree" which stood forLGBTQ pride was vandalised.[48] To counter the "growinghomophobia" on the campus, JNU Students' Union along with other queer groups like Anjuman and Dhanak, led a march on 9 January, called Rainbow Walk.[48] The march started from JNU's Ganga Dhaba and ended at the Rainbow Tree spot.[49] The protestors criticised the 2013 verdict of theSupreme Court nullifying theDelhi High Court order reading downSection 377 of the IPC.[48] The campaign aimed at celebrating individual right tosexual freedom and identity.[48] The march was filled with songs and slogans; the students also painted a zebra crossing in rainbow colours and wrapped trees with rainbow coloured threads.[50]
On 9 February, a cultural evening was organised by 10 students, formerly of the Democratic Students' Union (DSU), at the Sabarmati Dhaba, against the execution of2001 Indian Parliament attack convictAfzal Guru and separatist leaderMaqbool Bhat, and for Kashmir's right to self-determination.[51] Slogans like "Pākistāna Zindābāda" ("Long live Pakistan"), "Kaśmīra kī āzādī taka jaṃga calegī, Bhārata kī barbādī taka jaṃga calegī" ("War will continue till Kashmir's freedom, war will continue till India's demolition") were reportedly raised at the protest meet."[51][52] Protests by members ofABVP were held at the University demanding expulsion of the student organisers.[53]
JNU administration ordered a "disciplinary" enquiry into the holding of the event despite denial of permission, saying any talk about country's disintegration cannot be "national".[54] The Delhi Police arrested the JNU Students' Union PresidentKanhaiya Kumar andUmar Khalid on charges ofsedition and criminal conspiracy, under section 124 of theIndian Penal Code dating back to 1860.[55][56]
The arrest soon snowballed into a major political controversy, with several leaders of opposition parties visiting the JNU campus in solidarity with the students protesting against the police crackdown.[57] More than 500 academics from around the world, including JNU alumni, released a statement in support of the students.[58] In a separate statement, over 130 world-leading scholars includingNoam Chomsky,Orhan Pamuk andAkeel Bilgrami called it a "shameful act of the Indian government" to invoke sedition laws formulated during colonial times to silence criticism.[59][60] The crisis was particularly concerning to some scholars studyingnationalism.[citation needed] On 25 March 2016, theGoogle Maps search for 'anti national' led users to JNU campus.[61]
Swami Vivekananda Statue
The Prime Minister of India,Narendra Modi inaugurated 151-inch tall statue ofSwami Vivekananda on 151st Jayanti of Jainacharya Shree Vijay Vallabh Surishwer Ji Maharaj and referred as theStatue of Peace whereas the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union protested outside the JNU campus and raised slogans such as ‘Uninvited Modi Go Back’, ‘Punish the perpetrators of January 5th attack’, ‘Save Public Education’ and ‘Unlock JNU’ among others.[62][63]
In November 2019, the yet-to-be inaugurated statue of Swami Vivekananda in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus was vandalised, with slogans against the BJP painted on the floor around the statue.[64][65][66] Students of the university, however, denied their involvement and termed it an act by some miscreants to discredit the JNU Students Union movement against the varsity administration against fee hike and hostel manual. A group of students later wiped off the slogans painted near the statue.[67]
Campus Violence
1981 46 days lockdown
JNU was shut down for 46 days by Indian government in 1981 after violence by student unions linked to communist parties.[68]
2000 Army Officers Scuffle
In April 2000, two army officers who disturbed anIndo-Pakmushaira at the JNU campus were beaten up by agitated students.[69] The officers were angered byanti-war poems recited by twoPakistani poets[69] and disrupted themuśāirā.[70] They were enraged at the recited lines of a poem by Urdu poetFahmida Riaztuma bhī bilkula hama jaise nikale ("It turned out you were just like us") and interpreted the lines as a criticism of India.[71] One of them started to shout anti-Pakistan slogans.[70] When the audience asked for silence. They were overpowered by security[71] and then beaten by students, though not seriously injured.[70][72] The Indian Army denied the charges and it was reported that the two army officers were admitted in hospitals.[73] A retired judge was appointed to probe the accusation.[74]
On 13 November 2019, the JNU administration raised the fees of the university.[75] Since 28 October 2019, some students of JNU had been protesting against the fee hike.[76][77][78][79] As a part of this protest, students boycotted the final semester examinations. After protests, the university partially rolled back by reducing fees only for students from families with extreme poverty (BPL category) who do not avail any scholarship. The move did not convince the students as there was no rollback in the fee hike for non-BPL category students neither for BPL students availing a scholarship.[80] To press the administration for a complete rollback of the increase in fees, JNUSU had continued the protests.[81][82][83] The semester registration with the revised fee was started by 1 January.
On 5 January 2020, a group of masked vandals entered the campus, destroyed property and beat up several people.[84][85] This included students and professors. This drew widespread condemnation from the public, with opposition parties, Bollywood celebrities and human rights activists expressing their concerns.[86]
2022 Resistance to ban on non-veg food
In April 2022, a group of students fromABVP attacked the canteen staff and students on serving non-vegetarian food. A clash between students in resistance to the efforts ofABVP to ban non-veg and several students were injured.[87] Delhi police registered an FIR against unidentifiedABVP students.[88]Netizens commented this as denial of freedom of choice.[89]
^Raza, Moonis; Nangia, Sudesh (27 November 1986)."Atlas of the Child in India". Concept Publishing Company.Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved26 October 2020 – via Google Books.
Roy Chowdhury, Sharmishtha (2013),"Jawaharlal Nehru University", in Mary Elizabeth Devine; Carol Summerfield (eds.),International Dictionary of University Histories, Routledge, pp. 224–227,ISBN978-1-134-26210-6
Further reading
JNU: Retrospect and Prospect, New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University, 1986
Reddy, G. Ram (1995),Higher Education in India: Conformity, Crisis and Innovation, New Delhi: Sterling Publishers
K. B. Powar; S. K. Panda, eds. (1995),Higher Education in India: In search of quality, New Delhi: Association of Indian Universities
Gore, M. S. (1994),Indian Education: Structure and Process, Jaipur: Rawat
Ghose, Subhash Chandra (1993),Academics and Politics, New Delhi: Northern Book Centre
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