JNU Sacks Cong MP Bimol Akoijam Over Sexual Harassment Probe

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has dismissed incumbent Congress MP Angomcha Bimol Akoijam with immediate effect following an inquiry into allegations of sexual harassment. According to a university order dated October 9 and signed by Vice-Chancellor Santishree D Pandit, JNU’s Internal Committee conducted the inquiry and recommended a major punishment. The university said it decided to dismiss Akoijam after following due process and considering the available facts and the committee’s report. The issue had taken a political turn, with BJP’s students wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staging a protest at the university last month to demand action over complaints that had been filed by 11 women students. Akoijam had rejected the allegations, accusing what he described as “racist schemers” of trying to damage his reputation through unverified allegations and lies. Akoijam taught at the Centre for the Study of Social Systems in JNU’s School of Social Sciences. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Manipur’s Inner Manipur constituency in 2024 on a Congress ticket. So far the Congress has not officially reacted to action on him. JNU V-C was heard saying that Akokijam had played truant and was not responding to “some 300 emails sent to him” by the Inquiry Committee. He was reportedly calling the women students home which were objected to by the students. The V-C went on record praising the women students who had the courage to see through their complaints. The complaints took a political hue with BJP’s Mahila Morcha planning to hold protest outside Congress offices across the country