Students protest ‘favouritism’, lock Jammu varsity main gates

Tribune News Service

Jammu, September 20

The first-ever elections to the students’ union at the Jammu University (JU) have generated a lot of heat on the campus, with the process of blame game and accusations gaining momentum.

Students of various organisations today held demonstration and locked the main gates of the Jammu University in protest against the alleged favouritism in the ongoing process of the first-ever elections of the students’ union on the campus.

Activists of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), National Conference Students’ Union (NCSU) and a few more organisations gathered at the main gate of the campus and raised slogans against the university administration for allegedly favouring ABVP activists and making all-out efforts to ensure their victory in the upcoming elections.

“There are a number of instances where the university administration has favoured the ABVP activists at the behest of the ruling BJP in the state. We will not tolerate this kind of approach and we demand that the university should go for direct elections instead of indirect elections,” Neeraj Kundan, state president of the NSUI, said.

He alleged that the heads of the various departments were making all-out efforts to ensure the victory of ABVP candidates in their respective departments, which was against the spirit of democracy. “They are doing so at the behest of the university administration and BJP ministers,” he alleged.

Meanwhile, the JU unit of the ABVP today castigated the university administration for not taking any action against the student, who had allegedly attacked a department representative (DR) candidate Urvarshi Raina at Law School a couple of days ago.

“The Jammu University has been protecting goons and their supporters. Why the university has not taken any serious note of the woman candidate’s harassment on the campus. The university must show some seriousness in the matter and immediately take a strict action against the wrongdoer,” Suyash Gupta Secretary, ABVP, JU unit, said.

Yesterday, the Jammu University had constituted a four-member committee to conduct an inquiry into the ABVP-NSUI clash at Law School that had left five students, including a woman, injured.