The JNU scholar accused of brutally killing a dog in his hostel rocsm may have to pay for it with his doctorate
Jawaharlal Nehru University is know for debates, political and intellectual. Once again, it’s in the middle of
another, and this one promises to be the most controversial. At the centre of it are a dog, a student from the Northeast and a doctoral thesis.
The dog was killed, allegedly by Yoronsu, who has been pursuing his PhD at the Centre of Political Science for the past seven years. Being debated is his punishment criminal action, suspension from the university or disqualification of his doctoral thesis.
The debate has spread to the virtual world with supporters of both Yoronsu and animal lovers trying to make their point.
On one hand, at great risk is the career of this student if authorities choose to show him the
door. On the other is the ire of animal lovers, who have been feeding stray dogs on the campus for long. Even though the student from the Northeast says he killed the dog in self-defence, others simply refuse to accept his reasoning.
It all began on the night of July 7. Yoronsu was in his Kaveri Hostel room. With him were two friends, who had reportedly not been signed in by him. Suadenly, the silence of the night was shattered by the sounds of a yelping dog. When other hostliers and security guards rushed to Yôronsu’s room, they found it bolted from inside with blood oozing from under the door.
The horrified student called in the police thinking that someone had been murdered. Later, it turned out that the dog had been killed.
Yoronsuu claims that he struck the dog in self defence as it had attacked him. However, it seems strange that someone would bolt the door with a strange dog inside and then claim that it attakéd them.
Now this dog is one of the many that campus bleeding heart Shubhalakshmi feeds regularly. Protests by her and other dog lovers on campus ensured that Yoronsu was fined Rs 2,000, asked to leave the hostel and a proctoral enquiry has been ordered into the incident. There are six different complaints with the police with students giving first hand accounts of what they saw that night.
This incident comes as the latest in several where campus dogs have gone missing. Accordi ig to Shubhalakshmi, the dogs are being specifically targeted, maybe for food. “The dog was called Kali. I had been feeding her for the past five years. I could not bear to listen to the entire brutal story What Yoronsu did was unpardonable. As far as Tam concerned, it Is as If be has killed a human being. There have been incidents In the past where sóme of my dogs went missing. I eat chicken but i don’t catch a hen and cut it myself. There is a proper way. You can’t kill a dog,” she said.
She and other students are demanding that Yoronsu’s doctoral thesis be cancelled. He is to submit it on Monday after seven long years of hard work, while there is a strong dog lobby. there is also an equally vocal group of supporters for Yoronsu. Though no decision has. been taken on the fate of Yoronsu’s thesis, the Proctor has refused to give him clearance.
This incident is not the first of its kind at JNU. Dogs have always been a cause of controversy here. “Two years ago, the hostel President Raja Narayan wanted to make the hostel a dog free zone and it was in his manifesto a well. He had also killed a dog,” said Akhil Alha, President, Kaverl Hostel. He had apparently thrown the dog from the balcony.
“It may happen in their community but they should respect the sentiments of others. We just want the police to register an FIR so that action is taken against these students,” said Sonya Ghosh of Citizens for the Welfare and Protection of Animals.
“If the value of the animal killed is above Rsl0, then the person can be imprisoned for two years but if the value is more than Rs50, the imprisonment can be for five years. In this case, the value is definitely more than 50 because the dog was sterilised and vaccinated,” said Ghosh.
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