Rajya Sabha member and DU professor uninvited, then re-invited to deliver lecture

In a ‘rescheduled invitation’, the CPDHE wrote to Jha on Wednesday evening, informing him that his lecture on ‘Political Social Work: A Perspective’ was scheduled for September 4, from 10 am to 11.30 am – the same date and time as before.

The matter also saw the intervention of Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh, who said that he had asked the CPDHE Director to invite Jha after he heard of the matter. He said: “I came to know this through Professor Manoj. I have asked CPDHE Director, Geeta Singh, to invite him for the lecture. It is not a good practice to invite someone and then cancel it.”

In a video message, Jha said: “I can speak in Parliament, on the streets, and write in newspapers, but I can’t address the teachers of my own university. What is this fear? I will write to the Prime Minister and Education Minister on the matter.”

Asked why Jha’s session was cancelled, Geeta Singh said on Wednesday afternoon, “Our schedule changed a little because the Prime Minister will, on September 4 or 5, launch a portal for these training programmes. So, we needed to reschedule his (Jha’s) session. It has not been cancelled, it is being rescheduled.”

Singh added: “He (Jha) is a professor at the university and he has delivered lectures at CPDHE before as well. His coming here is an honour for us..”

Meanwhile, the Democratic United Teachers’ Alliance, a group of teachers’ associations described the cancellation of Jha’s invite as “undignified” and alleged that orientation/refresher/development programmes for teachers were being packed with resource persons holding “ideological views of the ruling dispensation while excluding all contrarian views.”