On April 16, on the call of JNUSU, the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) embarked on a university strike demanding immediate action by the administration to ensure gender justice. The students condemned administration’s inaction over a sexual harassment complaint.
On March 31, a woman student had filed a complaint with the administration against four individuals, affiliated with the ABVP, including two former students of the university, for passing sexually derogatory comments at her inside the campus. The women student was later forced to launch an indefinite strike near the main gate against inaction by the Chief Proctor’s office over the incident.
JNUSU in statement condemning the lack of action and attempts to intimidate the survivor had said that this is a clear attempt to intimidate the survivor and shield the perpetrators, which further strengthens the rotten roots of Brahmanical patriarchy. We would like to state that JNUSU will not tolerate any attempts at normalising such acts, or any attempts at shielding perpetrators. The students of JNU must unite against such normalisation of sexual harassment and the lax attitude of the Admin and Security in dealing with such grave cases.
The students noted that scrapping of Gender Sensitization Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) in 2017 by the JNU administration has led to adversely impact the Gender justice in the campus. The GSCASH was replaced with an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), which has no proper representation from the students’ community.
The strike called also demanded that the administration adhere to JNUSU’s charter, which includes immediate reinstatement of the Gender Sensitization Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) and inclusion of JNUSU in all committee meetings taking decisions related to students, among others.
Students walked out of their classes across the campus in solidarity with the demands. Students from various centres and departments also wrote letters calling upon the administration to ensure that demands of the students are met.
