Students from Northeast demand 75 per cent reservation in JNU’s Barak Hostel

Students from Northeast demanded a 75 per cent reservation in Jawaharlal Nehru University’s newly inaugurated Barak Hostel. The North East Students’ Forum (NESF) has sought the reservation alleging that the University renounced its commitments made during the hostel’s construction with the North Eastern Council (NEC) and the Ministry for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER).

JNU administration did not give any immediate response to the issue. As per the students, the Barak Hostel was funded by NEC and was envisioned as a culturally sensitive and secure space for students native to the eight northeastern states in the country.

However, the first allotment list released by the university on April 8 allotted only five out of 88 seats to students from the region. “This hostel has been turned into a political showpiece without addressing the fundamental reason it was built.

Our demand is not new, it is a reiteration of what was agreed upon,” the NESF said in a statement after a silent protest during the hostel’s inauguration on April 7.

Some students, however, have opposed the idea of a reservation in a hostel, saying it goes against the inclusive ethos of JNU.

“There are many hostels in the JNU campus and some other hostels were also funded by various Union ministers, yet no reservation was provided.

JNU is a place where people from different backgrounds live together and understand each other’s cultures. If everyone starts asking for a reservation, it will break the sanctity of the university,” a JNU student said. “Reservation will give a push to segregation between the students inside the campus,” the student added.

Rebuking this statement, the NESF said that providing a safe space for students who are vulnerable to certain forms of discrimination is not a form of segregation.

“The argument of segregation in itself presents a lack of understanding of the diversity of the eight states that comprises the North-East region. The demand for reservation of seats in this hostel is not a form of forced segregation but to promote representation and safety. It does not limit our interaction or participation with the larger student body,” the NESF said.