NEW DELHI: The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) on Monday went ahead with a scheduled discussion on a book by former JNU student Umar Khalid, with students and faculty members attending the event despite the university cancelling the original venue.The discussion began around 3pm as planned outside the School of Social Sciences-II building after the university withdrew permission for the auditorium where the programme was originally scheduled.The event centered on Khalid’s book, Fractured Communities: Adivasi Histories and the Politics of Power, and was organised to mark the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, according to the students’ union.The discussion was initially scheduled at the School of Social Sciences-I (SSS-I) auditorium. The university cancelled the booking, saying that the “full facts” about the programme had not been disclosed.JNUSU had criticised the decision as “arbitrary and authoritarian”, maintaining that cancelling the venue would not prevent the discussion from taking place.“Cancelling a room does not cancel a conversation,” the students’ union had said, asserting that no administrative order could suppress students’ right to “think, question, and discuss”.The union later announced an alternate venue outside the SSS-II building and urged students, faculty and staff to attend.According to the event poster, the discussion featured professors Prabhu Mahapatra and Uma Chakravarti, writer and artist Shuddhabrata Sengupta, and social activists Harsh Mander and Banojyotsna.Khalid, a former JNU student leader, has been in custody since September 2020 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in connection with a case alleging a conspiracy behind the 2020 northeast Delhi riots. He is yet to face trial.The communal violence broke out during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), leaving 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.(With PTI inputs)
