New Delhi: Protests at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), including the one over the Nirbhaya incident in 2012 and against a professor accused of sexual harassment in 2018, have traditionally brought classes to a standstill, kept senior administrators confined to their offices and dominated national headlines for days.
After the Dec 16, 2012, Nirbhaya incident, students demonstrated at Vasant Vihar police station and Munirka before joining protests in central Delhi. A subsequent march involving more than 1,000 students and teachers towards Parliament Street encountered barricades, water cannons and police action. The mobilisation continued through campus meetings on sexual violence, women’s freedom and policing. A year later, allegations by eight women against a professor became a campus-wide cause. Students demonstrated outside Vasant Kunj police station.
There have been no prolonged class boycotts, large cross-campus marches, demonstrations outside police stations or weeks of posters, pamphlets and general body meetings comparable to earlier campaigns. Women’s safety has previously generated such responses at JNU.
In 2009, electricity meters, eateries and an increase in the prospectus price from Rs 120 to Rs 200 sparked strikes and marches.
A Nestlé outlet near Tapti Hostel became a major political dispute in 2004 over the “corporatisation” of campus space. JNU’s capacity for prolonged agitation has extended beyond gender issues.