Woman JNU professor files police complaint against JNUTA president, JNUSU secretary

A woman professor of the Jawaharlal Nehru University here has filed a police complaint against JNUTA president Atul Sood and the JNUSU secretary for allegedly circulating fake news and trying to disturb peace, communal harmony and incite violence and divisiveness on the campus.

Aejaz Ahmed Rather, the JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) secretary, claimed that the complainant, Professor Amita Singh of the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, had told him he looked like "a terrorist who has triggered 10 bomb blasts" on December 26.

In a statement, the JNU Teachers' Association (JNUTA) had condemned Singh for her alleged statement and demanded a formal inquiry into the matter.

Rather said he had submitted a complaint to the Delhi Minorities Commission and the National Commission For Minorities in this regard.

Singh claimed that Rather, accompanied by some students, including JNUSU president N Sai Balaji, protested outside her office on Monday, raising slogans like "Please teach them Lenin, Marx".

She said before the protest, she had written to the university's vice-chancellor (VC), apprising him of the matter and demanding security.

Singh also said she had written to the VC on December 29 against the JNUTA president for "maligning her reputation".

"Reiterating the hollowed allegation that I called them terrorists or blast convicts when I do not know them at all only shows that this is a well-planned conspiracy to create disturbances, obstruct work and arouse communal passions on the campus, especially by using the 'Islamophobia' argument, which is a sensitive issue in this pre-election phase of the capital city," she had written in the December 29 letter.

After Monday's protest, Singh also filed a police complaint in the matter.

Rather admitted that they staged a protest outside Singh's office on Monday, but claimed that no threatening slogan was raised, only slogans like "Inquilab Zindabad", "Casteism and Islamophobia won't work in JNU" were shouted.

"She calls JNU students 'convicts in bomb blasts' and targets students based on their social backgrounds. This is nothing but a manifestation of the attitude that the administration holds towards students coming from marginalised backgrounds. Further, to save herself from the results of her misdoings, she has falsely implicated the JNUTA president (for issuing a statement over the issue), filing false complaints," the JNUSU secretary said.