New Delhi: Students and teachers at Jawaharlal Nehru University have demanded Vice-Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit’s resignation after she likened caste-based victimhood to a drug and criticised equity regulations.

The demand follows a February 16 interview on The Sunday Guardian podcast hosted by Joyeeta Basu, wherein Pandit spoke at length regarding the University Grants Commission (UGC) equity regulations, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and the recent rustication of five students.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) and the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Association (JNUTA) issued formal statements condemning her worldview, with the student body calling for a national protest today, February 21.

Comments on UGC Regulations and Dalits

During the interview, Pandit was asked about the UGC equity regulations and the subsequent backlash.

“It was so secretly done, it was not even circulated,” Pandit stated. “Many of us who are part of the system here didn’t even know what was in it. Because an equity regulation cannot be inequitable. Because you cannot give powers to one group and deny the other group of all justice. This goes against the Constitution of India.”

When questioned on the influence of “wokism” on students, Pandit classified the ideology as intellectual terrorism.

“The entire woke thing is you create an artificial enemy… there’s a permanent victimhood,” Pandit stated. “And you cannot progress by being permanently a victim or playing the victim card. This was done for Blacks, the same thing was brought for Dalits here, and you know the question is by making somebody the devil, it’s not easy to progress. It is a temporary type of drug,........

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