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Teachers to counter negative narrative on Jawaharlal Nehru University

NEW DELHI: Academic discussions coupled with walks through the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University and its iconic spaces, exploring the dhaba culture, food festival on Jhelum lawns and film screenings with open mic performances are some programmes being organised by the university teachers’ association.

Titled ‘Mosaic – Judte Jodte JNU’, the festival from February 10 to 12 is being organised by JNUTA to discuss the founding orientation of the institution and education, access and justice and other contemporary issues.

Sucharita Sen, secretary, JNUTA, told TOI that in the past few years, the university has faced challenges with negative terms like ‘tukde tukde’ being associated with it. “This festival is an attempt to respond to attacks on JNU in an academic manner and in a cultural form to represent the diversity and inclusiveness and values that JNU stands for. Mosaic encompasses a plurality of things in its organising,” said Sen.

Sen said, “There have been wilful attempts to misrepresent JNU and the values the university community really stands for and to tarnish the university’s image in the public domain. This external campaign against the university has been compounded by several challenges from within. The depletion in JNU’s vibrant campus life has been exacerbated by the pandemic, which led to a very long lockdown of the campus.”

Now, with the campus gradually returning to its full strength with the admission of students to various programmes this year, Sen said it was time to restore to JNU campus its vibrant energies. “This is indeed the time to come together, reclaim the spaces that were rendered empty and inactive in recent years, affirm the spirit of diversity, debate and togetherness that characterises JNU’s extraordinary campus life,” said the JNUSU secretary.

The festival will focus on the qualities of diversity, solidarity, empathy and difference, qualities which the union members said had created the university community on and outside the campus .

“We will have academic sessions each morning with eminent scholars who have played a crucial role in creating the academic environment of this university, followed by cultural activities in the afternoon and evening,” a member of the teachers’ body said.

Sessions led by historian Romila Thapar, readings by actors Ratna Pathak and Naseeruddin Shah, a screening of the Satyajit Ray directed film Ghare Baire with a discussion with filmmaker Aparna Sen, are among the several events lined up for the festival.

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