‘JNUites probably having far greater fun than ever’

Delhi: Dr Saugata Bhaduri, professor in the Centre for Linguistics and English at JNU, did not mince words when he told Gulf News last Saturday that the five students of the university who had charges of sedition hanging on them for having allegedly raised anti-India slogans during a programme at the university campus on February 9, may not actually be absconding, unlike what has been reported in the media.

“For all you know, they could be present on campus right now,” he said.

His words found credence barely 48 hours later, as two of the students in question, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, not only surfaced on campus, but even went on to court arrest. Dr Bhaduri shared some of his thoughts and concerns on the controversy. Following are excerpts from the interview:

GULF NEWS: People from JNU have been caught on camera, chanting anti-India slogans. How do you justify that?

Dr BHADURI: “What we have seen are video clips sourced from diverse times and events. The one in question, the February 9 programme, had many people participating in it. But we still do not know for sure whether the ones raising anti-India slogans were JNU students.”

If there is any possibility of unrest on campus, don’t you think the university is within its rights to seek police intervention?

“In case of any apparent law-and-order situation on campus, JNU administration has its own mechanism to deal with such issues. During the February 9 programme, there was no violence, no unrest. Yet, two days later, on the basis of an FIR filed by a Bharatiya Janata Party MP from East Delhi, Mahesh Giri, the police came and rather bizarrely arrested Kanhaiya Kumar, the JNUSU president, who belongs to an outfit called All India Students’ Federation, the students wing of the Communist Party of India, which is as mild a Left party as it can get when it comes to issues like ‘sedition’!”

Don’t you think that by observing the anniversary of Afzal Guru’s hanging, an attempt was probably being made to foment trouble?

“But where is the trouble? You yourself have spent time on this campus. Do you see any trouble? I mean, JNUites are probably happier than ever, because they now have some sense of belonging. Students are probably having far greater fun than they normally do.”

Is this controversy part of some larger, sinister plan to malign JNU or did it just snowball into a controversy?

“This looks like a plan to fundamentally destabilise JNU and to maim ways of critical thought. Fortunately, the plan has not at all been successful.