JNU wasn’t “anti-national” or part of “tukde-tukde” gang, says JNU’s VC
JNU wasn’t “anti-national” or part of “tukde-tukde” gang, says JNU’s VC
In the midst of an nteraction with Press Trust of India editors at the agency’s headquarters in Delhi, Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, first woman Vice-Chancellor of the Umiversity,said that JNU was never “anti-national” or part of the “tukde-tukde” gang. She asserted that the institution will always foster dissent, debate and democracy.
She also went on to add that it is “not saffronised” and there is no pressure from the central government in its day-to-day functioning.
Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit,
also a JNU alumnus, admitted that the campus was polarised when she took over and termed the phase as “unfortunate”. She also claimed that there were mistakes on both sides (students and administration) and the leadership erred in handling the situation.
She went on add further that neither does she regrets her affiliation with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) nor hides it.
She also spoke at length on her life from the time she was born in St. Petersburg in Russia to growing up in a middle-class South Indian family in Chennai. She feels proud to be called “the Sanghi VC for bringing the highest QS rankings for JNU.
She further added that as a university we should be above all this (saffronisation).
JNU is for the nation, not for any particular identity. JNU stands for inclusivity and development and she always articulates that it stands for seven Ds – Development, Democracy, Dissent, Diversity, Debate and Discussion, Difference and Deliberation.
Pandit took over as the
Vice-Chancellor in 2022 when the campus was in the throes of students’ agitation and still had not recovered from the 2016 controversy over alleged anti-national slogans being raised on campus amidst an event.
The students who were alleged to be involved in the slogan raising were branded as members of the “tukde tukde” gang.
That was a phase when there were mistakes on both sides. She thinks that the leadership erred on the way to control it.
Responding to a question on the varsity’s anti-national image.
she pointed out that any university has 10 per cent lunatic fringes and it isn’t only JNU. It is over the leadership, how we tackle people with extreme views… But she doesn’t think we are anti-national or tukde-tukde.
She also articulated that she doesn’t think that phase was bad and there were mistakes on both sides, and because of polarisation and the leadership not understanding…You have to understand that people will differ and argue. The university was never anti-national. When she studied (at JNU) it was the height of the Left domination, even then nobody was anti-national.
She further went on to add that they were critical and being critical and dissenting will not be called anti-national. She thinks the administration did not understand JNU and that was an unfortunate phase.
She even pointed out that all the degrees awarded to graduates of military academies such as IMA, Naval Academy are from JNU. “Going by that logic even the Indian military will be deemed as anti-national.
When she took over she was seen by Leftist students on the campus as a representative of right-wing politics and perhaps a supporter of the view that the university is anti-national.
Her mother is an Ms Pandit was academician mother and was teaching linguistics in what was then Leningrad in Russia. Her mother died soon after childbirth and she was raised for nearly two years by Russian caregivers who brought her to India in November 1963 and handed her to her journalist father in Chennai.
A school topper, she cleared the medical entrance examination and joined AIIMS in New Delhi but quit after three months because she was told she would have to gynaecology or paediatrics, and not neurology. She then studied history and pursued an academic career which took her to Pune University as its dean.
Growing up in Chennai, her father, who never remarried, would send her to summer camps organised by Sevika Samiti, an RSS-affiliated group.
That is how she grew under the influence of the RSS,” adding that the Sangh has never taught her hatred but has had a positive influence on her life.
She doesn’t want to hide it and Maoists do not hide it so why should she hide it. She hasn’t done anything that is anti-national and thinks the RSS in the south is not as politicised as it is here and that she has a lot to do with the Sangh and most of her values come from there.
She further pointed out that everybody has different affiliations and for Sangh has been a very positive influence.
Finally when asked about the allegations of saffronisation of the JNU campuses, she concluded that “at least in JNU they are not saffronised”.
News Edit K.V.Raman
