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JNU Registrar's Letter Shows Vice Chancellor Backed Police Action Inside Campus

JNU Registrar's Letter Shows Vice Chancellor Backed Police Action Inside Campus
NEW DELHI, INDIA - FEBRUARY 12: Police trying to stop the residents of nearby Munirka Village during demonstration against the organisers of the event on Afzal Guru where anti-national slogans were raised at JNU Campus on February 12, 2016 in New Delhi, India. JNU studentsâ Union President Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on in connection with a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy over holding of an event at the prestigious institute against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru in 2013. A group of students on Tuesday held an event on the JNU campus and allegedly shouted slogans against India. (Photo by Arun Sharma/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Hindustan Times via Getty Images
NEW DELHI, INDIA - FEBRUARY 12: Police trying to stop the residents of nearby Munirka Village during demonstration against the organisers of the event on Afzal Guru where anti-national slogans were raised at JNU Campus on February 12, 2016 in New Delhi, India. JNU studentsâ Union President Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on in connection with a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy over holding of an event at the prestigious institute against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru in 2013. A group of students on Tuesday held an event on the JNU campus and allegedly shouted slogans against India. (Photo by Arun Sharma/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

A day after Jawaharlal Nehru University Vice Chancellor M Jagadeesh Kumar claimed in a press conference that he did not invite the cops to enter the campus, a letter purportedly written by Registrar Bupinder Zutshi showed that the police action had his backing.

The letter dated 11 February to the deputy commissioner of police, south district, said, "VC grants to the police force permission to enter JNU campus if need be and as you may deem fit," reported NDTV.

"Considering the serious nature of the alleged offence, permission was given to the Police to investigate the matter as per law of land. The Vice-Chancellor apprised the Deans of Schools and the Chairpersons of the Special Centers about the situation on the ground on 11th Feb, 2016," the letter further stated.

The VC had yesterday appealed for calm.

The next day, police entered the JNU campus and arrested student’s union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges. Kumar was arrested for allegedly raising anti-India slogans at an event organised by students on the campus to protest the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Kumar was produced at the Patiala House Court in New Delhi on Monday which extended his custody by two days.

The VC had said that the university only provided cooperation (to the police) as per the law of the land.

The vice chancellor told NDTV that he had only responded to a police request to enter the campus by granting conditional permission for a day. Though there were allegations of the police entering the hostels without a warrant to look for students, the Delhi Police commissioner had denied it.

Allegations of Police personnel entering girls' hostels of JNU are totally incorrect, malicious and mischievous.

— BS Bassi (@BhimBassi) February 13, 2016

But once the police entered the campus and started looking for students who led the pro-Afzal Guru protests, it sparked off criticism from teachers and students, forcing the vice chancellor to partially retract. The JNU administration then wrote to the police saying there was a general apprehension about undue interference by the police authorities and that they trusted the police to take necessary precautions in discharging their duty.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.