Jharkhand Univ Prof Invites JNU Teacher to Event, Gets Suspended

Central University of Jharkhand professor suspended for inviting a retired JNU teacher for an official event.

Shreya Bhattacharji, an associate professor of Central University of Jharkhand, has been suspended for inviting a retired JNU professor, MN Panini to an official event. The event was organised to celebrate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel earlier in March.

...Dr Shreya Bhattacharji invited Prof MN Panini from JNU as guest of honour for the said celebrations on March 19 without prior permission from the office of the vice chancellor. Prof Panini is considered as mentor to the group of students of JNU who were involved in anti-national activities on JNU campus recently

The order for Bhattacharji’s suspension

State Governor Draupadi Murmu, who was the chief guest for the event, opted out from attending the event because Panini was part of it.

When Vice Chancellor, Nand Kumar was asked about the suspension, he said that despite being aware of the decision to invite the JNU teacher, he was not aware of Panini’s credentials. On March 17, two days before the event on March 19 at CUJ, the VC asked Panini to cancel his visit, reports The Telegraph.

A few days before the event, I got flooded with emails, SMS-es and calls demanding that Panini’s visit be cancelled as he had been the mentor for Kanhaiya Kumar and his group of friends in the past. Until then, I didn’t know anything about his credentials. Many even threatened to show black flags if Panini came to CUJ. So, I couldn’t take any risk and cancelled his tour.

Nand Kumar

According to the order which came on Monday (March 28), Bhattacharji has been relieved of all her responsibilities at CUJ, which included acting as Dean of School of Languages, Dean of School of Education, and Dean of Students’ Welfare. The order further prohibits her from leaving the CUJ headquarters without prior permission from the VC.

When questioned further about drawing conclusions on the JNU controversy which has gripped the country for a while now, even though a legal verdict is yet to be declared by the courts, Nand Kumar responded with this:

Mamla kafi upar tak chala gaya tha. (The matter got escalated to the highest level). I didn’t want any controversy.

Nand Kumar

Holi holidays were declared to be the reason for the late arrival of the suspension notice.