Kanhaiya Kumar denounces disciplinary actions by Tata Institute of Social Sciences

Kanhaiya Kumar, a social activist and student leader from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), denounced the disciplinary actions taken by Mumbai’s Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) against protesting students by calling it a violation of the right to education.

A report in the Mid-day quoted him as saying that he said he will meet his TISS counterparts on August 22.

Fahad Ahmad, former general secretary of the students’ council at TISS, who spearheaded the protest, was denied PhD registration. The Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) scholarship od many other students was stopped and was pending approval by the institute administration.

Upon arriving in Mumbai for a state council meeting the All India Students’ Federation (AISF), Kanhaiya Kumar said, “in principal, if any student fighting for the basic fundamental right of getting education, and they are harassed by the management of any institute, it is a violation of the right to education.”

On the issue of Fahad’s stalled PhD registration, Kanhaiya said, “It is inhuman and constitutionally illegal if any student’s degree is held or registration is stopped. This should not happen.”

“I have already taken an overview of the conditions at TISS from our student representative, who was one of those whose degree was withheld by the institution. I am meeting a few students in the morning on Wednesday. We will plan the further course of action, if any,” he concluded.

Whilst on a visit to Mumbai he also added that he had no immediate plans to contest polls as the news seemed to be doing rounds recently. Calling himself a ‘berozgar’ (unemployed) after completing his doctoral degree, he said he plans to teach. Electoral politics, he said, will happen only “if things go in the right direction”.

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