New Delhi: Criticising JNU’s fee hike issue, veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi Thursday said Vice-Chancellor Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar should not be allowed to continue in his post.
Joshi, who was the HRD minister in A.B. Vajpayee’s government, tweeted saying: “Reports are, that the HRD Ministry had twice advised the JNU, VC, to implement certain reasonable and working formula for resolving the issue of enhanced fee in JNU. He was also advised to reach out to teachers and students. It is shocking that the V-C is adamant for not implementing the government proposal. This is deplorable and in my opinion, such VC should not be allowed to continue on this post.”
Reports have suggested that the HRD ministry did find a “workable solution” to end the ongoing fee hike crisis in the university, but the V-C refused to go ahead with the plan.
Joshi, who had earlier faced criticism for trying to accommodate RSS interests in school education during his tenure in the HRD ministry, is the only BJP leader to have spoken out against the V-C so far.
Meanwhile, there is speculation that V-C Kumar has the support of senior BJP leaders, which is why no action has been taken against him so far.
Criticism against the JNU V-C has been growing ever since the university proposed to hike its hostel fee last year. Students have been opposing the move since October, and a number of protests have broken out in the campus ever since.
The matter escalated Sunday night after a group of masked men, armed with rods and sticks, attacked students and teachers on the JNU campus. Demands to sack the V-C have grown louder since then.
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