JNUSU calls campus referendum on removal of vice-chancellor

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) has announced that it will conduct a student referendum on Tuesday, 10 March across all schools of the university to seek the mandate of students on whether vice-chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit should continue in office.

The referendum, which comes amid ongoing tensions on campus over alleged casteist remarks by the vice-chancellor and disciplinary action against student leaders, will be overseen by former members of the JNU Teachers’ Association (JNUTA). The results are expected to be announced on Wednesday.

No response was immediately received from the vice-chancellor’s office.

“Taking into account the casteist remarks made by the JNU VC recently, the referendum will open the field for students to express their opinion on whether the VC should continue to remain in her position or be removed. The voices of the students will be heard,” former JNUSU president Nitish Kumar told PTI.

JNU and its students’ union have been at the centre of a series of controversies in recent weeks. The campus has witnessed sustained protests since early February after the university suspended four JNUSU office-bearers along with former JNUSU president Kumar for two semesters.

The suspension was imposed for “extensive damage to university property” during a protest at the Dr B.R. Ambedkar Central Library on 21 November 2025.

The disciplinary action triggered further demonstrations demanding revocation of the suspension order, clashes between Left and Right-wing student groups and criticism of the vice chancellor over alleged caste-related remarks.

In a statement, the JNUSU said tensions escalated further when police detained more than 50 students and arrested 14 of them while they were marching to the ministry of education to demand implementation of University Grants Commission regulations, release of funds and the vice chancellor’s resignation.

“The JNU-14 had to spend three days in Tihar Jail, and the VC made no statement condemning the police,” the statement said.

The students’ union said the referendum had been called after repeated complaints were made by Kumar to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes seeking disciplinary action against the vice-chancellor, and after demands from students and teachers asking the ministry of education to clarify its position on the alleged remarks.

JNUSU vice-president Gopika K. Babu said the movement would continue. “We will not remain silent. The VC has attacked our dignity and self-respect. The fight for her removal from the post of vice-chancellor will not stop,” she said.

Amid the growing controversy on campus, a JNU faculty member has also written an open letter to President Droupadi Murmu raising concerns about the state of public discourse at the university.

In the letter dated 6 March, M. Christhu Doss, a faculty member at the Centre for Historical Studies in the School of Social Sciences III, said there was a need to preserve intellectual honesty and a culture of responsible academic debate within institutions of higher learning.

Addressed to the President, who serves as the Visitor of central universities, the letter called for attention to maintaining a culture of debate, critical thinking and academic integrity.

Doss wrote that universities must remain spaces where dialogue, dissent and scholarly engagement take place responsibly and are grounded in factual discussion. “Hence, any responsible and responsive JNUite would understand that JNUTA's wilful propaganda, which distorts the truth, is not the opinion of JNU's larger epistemic community,” he said.

Copies of the letter were also sent to the vice-president, the prime minister and the Union education minister.

With PTI inputs