Academics in Hyderabad back JNU students

Hyderabad: Academics formed a human chain at Sundarayya Vignana Kendram in Bagh Lingampally here on Friday in solidarity with protesting Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students. Several professors, academicians and researchers participated in the programme.

They maintained that students within Telangana are supportive of JNU students, whose protest had started against fee hike, which is a ‘genuine’ demand. N. Narayana of Centre for Educational Studies (CES) said, “More than 40 percent of students enrolled in JNU at Delhi are from poor financial backgrounds. The fee hike and additional service charge of `1,700 would severely impact them. So, there is nothing wrong with students protesting against the same.”

Despite demands of students being genuine, the JNU administration sought to curb the protests, which has now snowballed in a major disturbance, a professor, choosing to remain anonymous, said.

Another academic P. Lakshmayya demanded sacking of JNU Vice Chancellor Jagadesh Kumar, as his wrong handling of the issue has precipitated the current situation, which has put the prestige of JNU at stake.