JNU rusticates JNUSU office-bearers over library surveillance protest
The action follows a protest against surveillance at the Dr BR Ambedkar Central Library, which the students’ union says comes amid planned campus protests
The JNU administration has issued rustication and out-of-bounds orders for two semesters against all four JNUSU office-bearers (president, vice-president, general secretary and joint secretary) and former JNUSU president Nitish, citing their participation in a protest against the surveillance system at the Dr BR Ambedkar Central Library.
According to a release issued by the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU), “At a critical moment, when the union was preparing a full-fledged movement against the staying of the UGC Promotion of Equity Regulations, 2026, with a Mashaal Juloos scheduled on Tuesday and a Students’ Parliament on February 7, this crackdown must be seen as an attempt to silence student voices.”
The rustication and out-of-bounds orders against the union reflect the administration’s anti-student agenda, the release said, alleging that it seeks to remove representatives elected by the students for merely voicing student dissent. “This crackdown reflects why union elections are banned across the country and why the administration and the RSS seek to do so in JNU as well, despite the conduct of union elections on this campus.”