Santishree Pandit is the first woman Vice Chancellor of JNU.
The new Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Vice Chancellor, Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, takes charge under a harsh spotlight over a now-deleted Twitter handle filled with hate posts. Now grammatical mistakes in her first press release have been called out by many, including BJP MP Varun Gandhi.
"This press release from the new JNU VC is an exhibition of illiteracy, littered with grammatical mistakes (would strive vs will strive; students friendly vs student-friendly; excellences vs excellence). Such mediocre appointments serve to damage our human capital and our youth's future," Varun Gandhi tweeted, sharing Santishree Pandit's statement.
Many others flagged the errors and questioned the appointment.
Santishree Pandit is the first woman Vice Chancellor of JNU. She takes over from M Jagadesh Kumar, who had a controversial tenure as the head of the premier university and who will now head the University Grants Commission.
"The focus would (be) in constructing Indo-centric narratives (sic)," she has said in one of the most highlighted portions of her first press statement.
An unverified Twitter account, said to be hers, was deactivated yesterday after users dug out many controversial tweets. Screenshots circulated on social media.
One tweet described actor-politician Kamal Haasan as a "Hindu abuser" and "rice bag convert" -- a derogatory term used to target those who allegedly converted to Christianity for a bag of rice.
Another tweet said Mahatma Gandhi and Nathuram Godse took "opposite lessons from Gita". "Godse thought action was important and identified a solution for a united India in the assassination of one person Mahatma Gandhi. Sad," it read.
A tweet targeting the farmers' protest against three controversial farm laws - now withdrawn by the Centre - termed them "parasitic middlemen" led by "Yo Ya" (an apparent reference to Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav -- and farmer leader Rakesh Tikait).
Other posts by the handle supported calls for razing mosques and played up right-wing propaganda such as "love jihad".