"Ridiculous and dangerous": Teacher's body slams police action sought over slogans at JNU event

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) has strongly condemned the JNU administration’s decision to seek police action against students for raising slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, calling the move an alarming assault on democratic freedoms and a deliberate attempt to vilify the university.

In a sharply worded statement, the JNUTA said the administration, acting through its Chief Security Officer, has taken what it described as a “ridiculous and dangerous” step by requesting the Delhi Police to register an FIR merely over slogan-shouting at a JNUSU-organised event. The programme was held to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the January 5, 2020 violence on the JNU campus.

The teachers’ body pointed out that the very authorities now seeking criminal action were the same ones who failed to prevent the violent attack six years ago and later claimed inability to identify or act against those responsible. The association alleged that the latest move reflects a disturbing continuity with the events of 2016, when, it said, administrative actions and selective media narratives were used to malign and defame the institution.

JNUTA accused the administration of deliberately creating conditions to suppress dissent, arguing that the real objective of the FIR push is not law and order but the systematic throttling of protest and the erosion of the university’s democratic ethos. The statement warned that truth is once again being sidelined, while manufactured controversies are being used to justify curbs on free expression.

Describing JNU’s democratic culture as the bedrock of its success as a public institution, the teachers’ association cautioned that criminalising slogans and protests sets a dangerous precedent for higher education spaces across the country. It reiterated its opposition to any attempt to delegitimise student voices and called for an immediate rollback of actions that, it said, threaten academic freedom and constitutional rights.