MPs, students’ group demands rollback of JNUSU office bearers’ rustication

Several student organisations, teachers and Members of Parliament held a joint press conference in Delhi on Thursday to express solidarity with the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) and oppose recent disciplinary action taken against its office bearers.

Addressing the gathering, the speakers said JNU administration should roll back the rustication of all JNUSU office bearers, as well as a former students’ union president, and withdraw fines imposed on students.

Lok Sabha MP Raja Ram Singh CPI (ML) Liberation said the rustication of four office bearers is wrong, and the library should be accessible to all the students.

Also Read: Over 15.8 lakh cases pending in Delhi trial courts; lawyer absence, court stays major causes

“Since 2014, the government is trying hard to break JNU, but they have not been successful,” Singh said.

Rajya Sabha MP V Sivadasan, CPI (M), said the University authorities today stand against what Jawaharlal Nehru stood for.

“JNU administrators today stand against the students and their research by the act of restricting the library. They are trying to kill the democratic rights of the students,” Sivadasan said.

Sashikant Senthil, Karnataka Congress MP, said the rustication of JNUSU office bearers was an unprecedented move as the university is slowly moving towards surveillance and away from scholarships.

“This is an attack on free thinking, not just students. We strongly condemn this action and will stand with the students,” Senthil said.

The press conference was addressed by Sashikanth Senthil, Rajkumar Raut and Raja Ram Singh, all Lok Sabha MPs. Faculty members from JNU and DU also spoke at the event.

JNU administration did not respond to the queries immediately.

Speakers said that punitive action against elected student representatives undermines democratic spaces on university campuses and weakens public higher education.

They said such measures target dissent and discourage students from raising issues related to equity, access and academic freedom.

Representatives of several student and teacher organisations were also present, including the All India Students’ Association (AISA), All India Students’ Federation (AISF), National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Dalit Students’ Front (DSF) and other student groups.

The JNU administration has rusticated five PhD students, including four JNUSU office-bearers, for two semesters after they were found guilty of vandalising Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) access gates at the Dr B R Ambedkar Central Library on November 21, 2025.