Jindal university suspends two students for ‘Ram temple discussion, putting up posters’

Two students of O P Jindal Global University were suspended for allegedly putting up posters and engaging in a discussion regarding the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, which varsity officials called “a serious violation of the student code of conduct”.

On Thursday, a section of students protested against the suspension.

The university student disciplinary committee (USDC), in its February 10 notice to one of the students, said, “You were allegedly involved in a serious violation of the student code of conduct. You were found to have been putting up posters and engaging in conversation that involved extremely derogatory and provocative words and/or phrases aimed at detrimentally affecting the integrity and tranquility of the university space.”

Anjoo Mohun, varsity’s Chief Communication Officer, told The Indian Express that “the students were suspended by the Office of the Chief Proctor as per guidelines for student conduct at the university” and did not elaborate further.

The notice stated, “… Members of the USDC unanimously decided to impose the following penalties…” The varsity suspended the student for the remainder of the spring 2024 semester and said he would be allowed to enter campus on August 1. It asked the student to submit two undertakings, signed by him and his parents, taking liability for any further breach of code of conduct that would render a graver punishment, including suspension or expulsion.

The notice said the student, in his written response, “Argued that you were only exercising your right to free speech in a democratic setup”. The student acknowledged he was not a part of any student organisation that “aligns with any specific political ideology, in particular”.

The poster of the public discussion, organised by the Revolutionary Student League on February 7, read: “Ram Mandir: A farcical project of Brahmanical Hindutva Fascism”.

The student organisation claimed the discussion was interrupted by a section of students chanting slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’. In a post on Instagram, it called for the varsity’s student body to take the incident as a “signal to join in against the struggle to claim back democratic political space”.

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