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Petition: Stop the Demolition of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University!
48 prominent academics and eminent citizens demand that the University be allowed to continue functioning in its present state so that the education of thousands of students is not compromised.
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The RDA served notice to the university administration earlier this month, after which a hearing was held to determine if the university had the required permissions for the constructions on its campus. Subsequently, the RDA declared 38 out of 40 buildings to be unauthorised, and ordered their demolition.
It simply beggars belief that the government intends to raze to the ground such a large, well-equipped and functional university, catering to thousands of students — that too in a region of the country where educational infrastructure is sorely lacking and access to quality higher education remains elusive for most.
If there are unauthorised constructions on the university campus, there are many ways the issue can be resolved without destroying valuable educational infrastructure and jeopardising the futures of thousands of students. Development authorities like the RDA routinely regularise unauthorised constructions through the imposition of fines and compounding fees. The rush to demolish clearly reflects the politically motivated nature of the whole process.
If there were such serious irregularities in the functioning of the university, how was it able to obtain recognition and university status in the first place? If this indicates the undue influence of the UP state government of the time over the UGC, should the priority not be to take measures to ensure the autonomy and transparency of regulatory bodies like the UGC?
We demand that the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University be allowed to continue functioning in its present state so that the education of thousands of students is not compromised due to political vindictiveness and ill-will.
Signatories:
- Rahul Varman, Professor, IIT Kanpur
- Koel Das, Professor, IISER Kolkata
- Dipankar, Chief Scientist, Treelabs / formerly faculty with IIT-Bombay, Treelabs Foundation,
- Ghanshyam Shah, Retired Professor, Formerly with JNU, Delhi
- Mazhar Husain, Neurosurgeon, Max Hospital
- Amit Singh, Faculty, IIT Bombay
- Sumeet Agarwal, Associate Professor, IIT Delhi
- Prajval Shastri, retired professor, physicist
- Shiva Shankar, Retired professor, Independent researcher
- Debangshu Mukherjee, Postdoctoral Fellow, Pohang University of Science & Technology
- Dr Prabir Chatterjee, Medical Officer, Amader Haspatal, Bankura
- S. Subramanian, Retired professor, Independent Scholar (economist)
- Usha Rani, Consultant , LEAP
- Manali Chakrabarti, Independent Researcher
- Deepak DSouza, Professor, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
- K V Subrahmanyam, Professor, Chennai Mathematical Institute
- Harbans Mukhia, Former Professor and Rector, JNU ( Retired),
- Sushmita, Professor, IMSc,
- Saumya Chakrabarti, Professor of Economics, Visva-Bharati
- pushpesh, Professor, University,
- Dr. Suhas Kolhekar, Citizen
- A Q Contractor, Professor (retired), IIT Bombay
- Alok Laddha, Faculty, Chennai Mathematical Institute
- Suchitra Mathur, Faculty, IIT Kanpur
- Ram Puniyani, Professor, Former Professor, IIT Bombay,
- ARUN KHOTE, Editor, Justice News
- Suvrat Raju, Professor, International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
- BALBIR SINGH BUTOLA , Superannuated, Jawaharlal Nehru University (SA)
- Chaman Lal, Self Researcher, Retd Professor JNU New Delhi
- Arijit Bishnu, Professor, Indian Statistical Institute
- pradip kumar datta, Retired Professor, Retired Professor, JNU
- Sachendra Pratap Yadav, Doctoral student, BITS
- Prajit Basu, Researcher, Independent
- Suratno Basu, Assistant Professor, TCG, CREST
- Bindhulakshmi Pattadath, Independent Researcher, Independent Academic
- Jayati Ghosh, Professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst
- Mohammed Ahmed Khan, Head, Yuva shakti sangathan
- Tanika Sarkar, Retired Professor, Retired professor. JNU
- Peehu Pardeshi, Director, PEHEL Foundation
- SIBAJI BANDYOPADHYAY, (Retd.) Professor of Cultural Studies , Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta (CSSSC), Kolkata
- Venkatesh Athreya , Adjunct Faculty, Asian College of Journalism, Chennai
- Kailash, Professor, University of Hyderabad
- Saptarshi Paul, PhD Candidate, IIT Kanpur
- Gaganjot, Researcher, IIT Kanpur Alumni
- Arun Kumar, Retd Prof, Retd. Prof JNU
- Kavita Vidrohi, Advocate and Activist, Kurukshetra
- Irfan Qayoom, Post doc, University of Michigan
- Prashant Kumar, Assistant Professor, GC Bherian Pehowa
Via- Socialist Party (India)
