VC appeals to political parties to not 'interfere' in JNU row

New Delhi, Feb 17: Amid the raging row at JNU, its Vice Chancellor, M Jagadesh Kumar today appealed to "all" political parties against "interfering" in the matter and said the varsity is capable of dealing with such issues internally.

"I appeal to all political parties to not interfere in this matter. The university can deal with these issues internally," he said.

Condemning the attack on students and teachers at Patiala House Court complex, Kumar said, "It was brought to our notice that some of the teachers were manhandled. The university condemns the alleged attack on them and is of the view that the law should be allowed to take its course."

Asked about reports regarding the hacking of the JNU website, the VC said the varsity is looking into the matter.

"I have also been told that the website of the university has been hacked. We are investigating the matter," he said. Kumar said a high-level JNU committee is investigating the February 9 incident in which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised and the eight students who were found to be involved in it have been debarred from the university after a preliminary inquiry.

Amid criticism over the VC's contradictory statements on alleged "police crackdown" on campus, Registrar Bhupinder Zutshi said, "There has been no contradictory stand on the police permission".

"We never called police, we just cooperated with it. The permission granted to them to enter was not an anti-student move," the VC had said.

Anti-India slogans were allegedly raised at an event at JNU on February 9 after which its students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested in a sedition case.

PTI