Shashi Tharoor flags a possible political angle, seeks fair review in Angomcha Bimol Akoijam’s JNU dismissal, while the Manipur Congress MP says the FIR will allow the case merits to be examined in court.
Imphal, Oct. 13: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has called for a detailed examination of the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of Inner Manipur MP Angomcha Bimol Akoijam from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), saying a professor should not be removed simply because he is a Congress MP. Meanwhile, Bimol Akoijam, who is facing an FIR in connection with sexual harassment allegations at the university, has said the case should be examined in court rather than through what he described as a “khap panchayat” style of inquiry at JNU.
Tharoor said the JNU Teachers’ Association was deeply upset over the action taken against Bimol Akoijam and had described it as unjust. He urged that the full details be examined before drawing conclusions, while acknowledging the importance of addressing issues concerning women.
“Simply because he is a Congress MP, certain people at JNU are moving to have him removed for that reason,” Tharoor said, describing this as an allegation with a political angle that required scrutiny. He added that it was not right to remove a professor from his position merely because he was a Congress MP.
Bimol Akoijam, meanwhile, said he welcomed the registration of the FIR because it would allow the merits of the case to be discussed in court. “It is good. The merit of the case can be discussed in the court, rather than that ‘khap panchayat’ in JNU,” he said.
The Congress MP has strongly disputed the allegations and questioned the procedure followed by the university. He alleged that the inquiry and subsequent dismissal were carried out in haste, claiming that he received an email informing him that the inquiry had been closed at around 12.40 pm, followed shortly by the submission of a report to the vice-chancellor and the dismissal order.
Akoijam described the proceedings as a “witch-hunt” and said he was prepared to face the FIR. He argued that the case would bring the underlying issues before a court, including whether the allegations arose from academic and pedagogical matters and how the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, applied in the circumstances.
He also questioned the public discussion of allegations that he said were not included in the complaint, specifically the claim that he had sought sexual favours in exchange for marks. Bimol Akoijam maintained that the matter had been misrepresented and alleged that procedural irregularities had occurred during the university’s proceedings.
The MP further alleged that the action against him had a political dimension and was intended to silence him. He said he would return to Manipur and continue speaking against what he described as racist and fascist forces.
Tharoor’s remarks come amid political reactions to Bimol Akoijam’s dismissal and the allegations against him. The Congress MP called for the facts to be established before conclusions were reached, while stressing that concerns involving women must be taken seriously.
The controversy has also prompted protests by BJP workers outside the Congress office in Delhi. BJP leaders have criticised Bimol Akoijam over the allegations, while the party’s Manipur president and Rajya Sabha MP, A. Sharda Devi, has accused his supporters of mistreating women and referred to complaints and FIRs that she said had been filed in Manipur.
A delegation of BJP women MPs was also expected to meet President Droupadi Murmu over the issue, according to sources cited in the supplied report.
The allegations against Bimol Akoijam, his dismissal from JNU and the FIR registered against him remain the focus of a wider political dispute, with Congress leaders calling for scrutiny of the university’s actions and BJP leaders demanding accountability over the allegations. The claims made by the opposing sides have not been independently established in the material provided.
