In order to look into the alleged physical assault of a teaching member at BR Ambedkar College by Deepika Jha, Joint Secretary of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU), the University of Delhi (DU) established an inquiry committee on Friday. Professor Neeta Sehgal of the Department of Zoology will serve as the chair of the six member committee. DU Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh has instructed the panel to investigate the incident and provide a factual report as soon as possible. The team has been given two weeks to complete the work.
The university claims that Professor Jyoti Trehan Sharma, DU’s joint proctor, serves as member secretary and Professor Neeta Sehgal as chair of the inquiry committee. Awadhesh Kumar, Joint Proctor; Professor Darvinder Kumar, Principal of PGDAV College; Professor Swati Diwakar, Department of Environmental Studies; and Professor (Dr) Rama, Principal of Hansraj College, are among the other members. The committee has been requested to investigate every facet of the situation and report back to the vice chancellor for additional action.
This follows a day after Jha allegedly assaulted Delhi campus professor Sujit Kumar, which prompted strong condemnation from academics and student organisations throughout the campus. The Democratic Teachers Front (DTF) claims that during a dispute on Wednesday, Jha smacked Kumar of the Commerce Department, who also serves as the chairperson of the college’s disciplinary committee, inside the principal’s office. According to reports, the committee was looking into a previous instance in which members of the ABVP were charged with assaulting other students.
According to alleged CCTV footage that professors have shared, Jha gets up during a debate and slaps the professor who is seated next to her. At the scene, a female police officer can be seen attempting to hold her. According to the DTF, Jha, the president of DUSU, and about fifty students broke into the institution, misbehaved with the staff, and demanded that Prof. Kumar resign. Due to safety concerns, every member of the disciplinary committee resigned after the incident. “The increasing prevalence of crowd intimidation on campus is reflected in this episode. Teachers cannot perform their jobs freely unless their safety is guaranteed,” DTF stated in a statement issued by secretary Abha Dev Habib and president Rajib Ray.
VS Dixit, an executive member of the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA), referred to the occurrence as “deeply condemnable” and urged the teachers’ organisation to take prompt notice and demand stringent punishment. Kirori Mal College lecturer and DTF treasurer Rudrashish Chakraborty branded it “part of a series of lumpen acts by ABVP, enabled by the university administration.”
(With Inputs From ANI)
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