The Rajasthan governor’s order to halt two management meetings of a journalism institute has set off a political controversy, with university officials alleging interference the Raj Bhavan and the Opposition BJP warning against the institute becoming the “JNU of Jaipur”.
Vice-Chancellor of the Haridev Joshi University of Journalism and Mass Communication, Om Thanvi, said Governor Kalraj Mishra’s move to halt scheduled meetings of the institute’s Board of Management (BoM) and the advisory committee was “arbitrary”. Others aligned to the Ashok Gehlot-led government in Congress echoed his views.
BJP leaders, however, opposed the meetings saying, that the procedure was not being followed and the institute risked turning into Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) with the presence of “tukde tukde gang”.
Over the last few years, JNU has been at the centre of protests against the central government over several issues.
On February 18, Raj Bhavan cited a circular the state’s Higher Education Department, saying that meetings in universities should not be held during the ongoing Assembly Session as some MLAs were members of the BoM.
The order, signed principal secretary to governor Subir Kumar, also cited a letter of opposition BJP MLA Dharmnarayan Joshi, who has demanded that no policy decisions should be taken in the meetings as only a few weeks were left in the V-C’s tenure. Thanvi’s tenure as V-C ends on March 8.
The BoM meeting was scheduled for February 21, and the advisory committee meeting on February 25.
“Many violations of procedure and rules are being committed at the Haridev Joshi University of Journalism and Mass Communication. If this goes on, then the university will become Jaipur’s JNU with the presence of the tukde tukde gang. That is why I had written a letter to the Governor so that the VC doesn’t take any such policy decisions towards the end of his tenure. He only has two weeks of tenure left,” Joshi, the Mavli legislator, told The Indian Express on Sunday.
Later in the day, Joshi alleged on Twitter that Thanvi, at the BoM meeting, wanted the recommendation to extend his tenure and secure access to SUVs for his own private use
V-C Thanvi dismissed the BJP leader’s accusations and said it will be “our good fortune” if HJU can match up to the “reputation of the JNU in academics”.
“JNU is a world renowned university. I don’t have any knowledge about any happenings in JNU that can be termed as anti-national… (The term) Tukde-tukde gang is just used to defame JNU,” he said.
On the claim that Thanvi wanted to extend his tenure, he said: “How can I demand such unrealic things when I am going to retire after 15 days?
The Vice-Chancellor added that the cancellation of the meetings the Governor – who is the Chancellor of the state-run university — was arbitrary.
“With due respect to the Chancellor, the powers of the Chancellor of HJU… don’t empower him to direct VC to not to discharge specific duties in the last three months. As such meetings (BoM and advisory committee meetings) were recently allowed in Jai Narayan Vyas University in Jodhpur, this proves the arbitrary and inconsent behaviour of the high office,” said Thanvi.
Independent MLA Sirohi Sanyam Lodha – who backs the Congress government and is a member of the university’s BoM — said in a series of tweets on Saturday that the Board of Management has nothing to do with the tenure of the V-C.
“The workings of the university should go on unhindered. It is not constitutional if the Raj Bhawan hinders it,” Lodha said. He added that the meeting of the advisory committee also had nothing to do with policy decisions regarding the institute.
Currently, the advisory committee conss of mostly journals. academics and government officials. No MLAs are part of the committee, according to a ling of members of the panel on the university’s website.
“In the order of the Raj Bhavan, there is the citation of a letter a BJP MLA. Earlier too, the Raj Bhawan has taken action against the journalism university citing BJP leaders. Is it not being tolerated that Ashok Gehlot has once again started the university,” he said, referring to the closure of the institute the previous BJP-led government in 2015.
When asked about the criticism, the Governor’s office on Sunday reiterated its stand.
“It came to our notice that in the BoM meeting, certain policy decisions were about to be taken. There is an exing order of the Honourable Governor which says that vice-chancellors should avoid taking policy decisions towards the end of their tenure. The Assembly session is also in progress and since the BoM has MLAs as members, there are guidelines for not holding such meetings during the Assembly session,” said Subir Kumar, principal secretary to the governor. Kumar did not refer to the meeting on the advisory committee in his statement.
This isn’t the first time the institute has been in the crosshairs of a political row.
First established in the previous tenure of Chief Miner Ashok Gehlot in 2013, HJU was shut down the Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government and merged with the Rajasthan University. The opposition Congress at the time had accused the Raje government of political vendetta. After coming to power, CM Gehlot re-established the university in 2019.
