A conflict arose between the student union members of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) after the union’s joint secretary, Vaibhav Meena, a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) installed a portrait of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in the student union office without following due procedure.
Meena undertook the initiative on May 28, which is the birth anniversary of the Hindutva leader. In a post on X, he said ,“On 28th May, to commemorate the birth anniversary of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, popularly known as Veer Savarkar, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) celebrated the jayanti of Veer Savarkar and placed a portrait of him in the JNUSU office.”
Reacting to the move, another JNU student and ABVP member replied saying “We had to wait for this for many years, it was accomplished only when ABVP won one seat in #JNUSU.”
In a different post Meena said, “Now JNU will not look the way it used to, where the martyrs and great men who sacrificed their lives for this country were insulted and disregarded. Now in JNU, the makers of this country will be honoured and talked about. Veer Savarkar is our ideal. He was remembered in the JNU Students Union office and his picture was installed in the same office where these leftists used to sit and spew venom against this country and society.”
However, other members of the JNUSU central panel opposed the move, saying that portraits cannot be installed in the student union office without prior consultation. “It has come to our notice that portraits are being installed in the JNUSU Office without prior consultation in the Council meeting. A portrait in the JNUSU Office can’t be installed without a resolution being passed from the council meeting which has long been a convention.” JNUSU president, Nitish Kumar, and general secretary, Munteha Fatima, said in a statement.
They further added, “All organisations and individuals refrain from installing any portrait or photos without their resolution being passed in a council meeting.”
The present central panel of JNUSU consists of three members from the United Left, including president Nitish Kumar, vice president Manisha and general secretary Munteha Fatima, while the joint secretary Vaibhav Meena is affiliated with the ABVP.
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