JNU vice-chancellor Jagadesh Kumar is walking a tightrope

His seemingly partisan attitude has been seen as a continuation of his history with RSS affiliates

Inside the sprawling office of the vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, its occupant, Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, seems rather diminutive. When he greets me in a soft voice, it seems even more ironic that he is capable of raising so many hackles and creating a storm of this magnitude. 

On Kargil Vijay Diwas last month, he suggested that JNU install a battle tank on campus to honour the “sacrifices and valour” of the Indian Army. While this statement was heavily criticised for being too dictatorial, Kumar believes that it was only to represent the strong JNU alumni community