JNU professor Nivedita Menon slams universities dialling parents if children take part in protests

JNU professor Nivedita Menon on Thursday slammed the culture of universities contacting parents if students take part in protests and claimed that this has developed in the “past five or six years”.

She was taking part in a discussion at the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) office.

“In the past five or six years, especially in the current regime, you might notice that the universities are contacting parents for (their) children’s behaviour. Students protest, they (universities) call their parents.”

“In the Delhi University, the enquiry committee that has been set up to enquire about the BBC screening will be going to call parents. The replications of patriarchal situation outside the home (is) something you need to do about,” she added.

A committee set up to look into the January 27 ruckus at Delhi University submitted its preliminary report three days later. Officials said they would now question the students and talk to their parents as part of its detailed investigation.

The JNUTA held a discussion on ‘Feminist Perspectives: Home, Work, Law’ as part of a four-day festival to thwart the “willful attempts to misrepresent the varsity” and exhibit the institution’s “real face and values”.

Thursday’s discussion was moderated by Ayesha Kidwai.

Economist Jayati Ghosh pointed out the failure to recognise unpaid work and said the percentage of working women in India is 18 per cent.

“That survey… you will see there (are) 90 to 92 per cent of women engaged in household duties… that includes collecting water and vegetables. They are not workers but they are there. This failure to recognise the unpaid work… We pretend that this section does not exist,” she said.

(With PTI inputs)