Elections To ICC Postponed Due To 'Administrative Reasons': JNU

The Jawaharlal Nehru University on Wednesday said the elections to the Internal Complaints Committee have been postponed due to “administrative reasons”.

However, the university’s students’ union condemned the move saying the elections were postponed since no nominations were filed for the post of ICC student representative.

An official from the administration said, “The officials are busy preparing for the convocation on November 11 and that is why the elections have been postponed. The new date will be notified.”

The circular released by the varsity mentions that the ICC elections for this academic year have been postponed due to “administrative reasons”.

The students’ union dubbed the reason cited by the administration as a “lie to “cover up the failure of the JNU VC’s pet project to squash gender justice in the JNU Campus”.

“The real reason for the postponement of the elections is that no nominations were filed for the post of the ICC Student Representative.

“This represents a complete rejection of the ICC by JNU students,” they said.

The ICC was brought in the JNU in an “authoritarian manner” by the administration in 2017 by dismantling the Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH), a model institution developed over the years in JNU by the JNU Student Movement.

Even though an amendment to the GSCASH Rules and Regulations in 2015 ensured that the GSCASH complied to the existing rules and regulations of the country, the institution was arbitrarily replaced by the ICC, whose very constitution ensured that it would remain a puppet institution, they said.

Over the years, the ICC has been in the news for reasons ranging from reprimanding complainants of sexual harassment for complaining to criminalising the act of lodging complaints against sexual harassment itself, they claimed.

“The complete rejection of the ICC by JNU students is a proof that the ICC has completely failed in its purpose and a victory of the GSCASH, which is still upheld as a model institution among JNU students,” they said.

Meanwhile, the students’ union also observed a strike on Wednesday for the second consecutive day against the Draft Hostel Manual.

The draft was brought out by the JNU administration without any consultation with the student community, they claimed.

The draft brought out by the JNU administration contains many additions to the pre-existing hostel manual, which include a fee hike, provisions that propose a hostel curfew after 10.30 pm, and a proposal for a dress code in the hostel mess, amongst many others, they said.

The students’ union demanded a rollback of the hostel manual and said they will take up the matter with the varsity’s vice chancellor.