Jawaharlal Nehru University has rusticated a PhD student and fined at least three other students, including student union office bearers, following a campus protest, which was organized two months ago and lasted for 18 days, against the installation of a facial recognition-based access system at the central library.
As per the official orders issued Tuesday, Manikant Patel, a 6th semester PhD scholar at the Centre for the Study of Regional Development (CSRD), has been rusticated for one semester and has been fined Rs 15,000. The order stated that Patel was found guilty of “manhandling security guards and library staff” and “kicking the main glass door of the library until it broke” during a protest. However, Patel has clearly denied the allegations while talking to FoEJ Media and has said he will “take the matter to the court.”
Meanwhile, JNUSU president Nitesh Kumar has been fined Rs. 19,000, and a warning was issued to him not to repeat “indisciplined activities.” The order reads that Kumar “intimidated and obstructed library staff.” Kumar, too, denied the allegations while talking to FoEJ Media.
“These are all just allegations—during the librarian protest, she herself came forward and was saying, ‘You’re the one pushing,'” Kumar said.
“We protested because the face recognition system was implemented without any consultation—there was a fault in the decision-making process. We appealed to stop the work and initiate a dialogue,” he added.
“The work has been started again without forming a committee or taking students’ recommendations. They thought elections were coming up, so everyone would get busy with that—and then they restarted it,” Kumar said.
Also Read: https://foej.in/ravana-effigy-burned-at-jnu-with-photos-of-umar-khalid-and-sharjeel-imam/
The Election Committee of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has unveiled the final list of contenders for the eagerly awaited Students’ Union elections for the 2025–26 academic session. A total of twenty candidates—six of them women—are set to vie for the four central panel positions of president, vice-president, general secretary, and joint secretary in the polls scheduled for November 4.
