JNU accuses students of manhandling dean; students' union denies charge

New Delhi: The JNU administration has alleged that the varsity’s students union members manhandled the Dean of Students, a charge denied by the students’ body. Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) registrar Pramod Kumar on Tuesday issued a statement along with CCTV footage, accusing JNUSU agitators of manhandling Dean of Students Umesh Ashok Kadam during a meeting. “While discussions went on, more than 15 agitating students barged into DoS office and became very violent. They continuously shouted slogans, latched door and blocked with a sofa. When DoS tried to go out of office for lunch, they pushed, hurled abusive language and manhandled him,” the administration said in the statement. A police complaint was filed and Chief Proctor was investigating into the issue, the statement said. [caption id=“attachment_4121323” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. News18[/caption] A day after the varsity administration made the allegations, the students body denied the them and instead said it was students who were manhandled by the security guards. In a statement, the JNUSU said, “The security guards confined the JNUSU vice-president Simone Zoya Khan along with other hostel presidents in Dean of Students’ room during the meeting. Students waiting outside learnt about this and tried to enter the room.” When they tried to talk to guards, more guards were called in and were instructed to physically manhandle students and push them out, the JNUSU claimed. Male guards assaulted girl students, the statement said. JNUSU also claimed that it has filed a complaint against the security guards in the Vasant Vihar police station. On 12 March, the JNUSU members and Dean of Students Umesh Ashok Kadam had held a meeting to discuss the issue of fee/mess charges hike at around 12 pm.