Did new JNU VC SD Pandit lie about her Twitter account?

Did the new JNU Vice Chancellor, Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, lie about her Twitter account?

This question is gaining currency after a screenshot of a post on her old Twitter timeline has emerged in which Pandit fondly remembered her mother and grandmother.

After seeing the photograph, a JNU student leader who did not wish to be named, commented, “How can someone running a fake account in her name get photographs from her personal, family album?”

“The language of the post shows that the account belonged to her,” added the student leader.

The old photograph of Pandit’s mother and grandmother was shared with the same Twitter account which Pandit denied having any link with. It reads: “To my mother Professor Adilakshmi Moolamoodi and my grandmother Professor Aruna Haldar who were pioneers in Indian studies in Russia. Eternally grateful to both”.

In an interview with The Indian Express, the new JNU VC claimed that somebody from JNU operated the Twitter account linked to her name.

“I didn’t have a Twitter account… It has been found out that it has been hacked and somebody internally from JNU has done this. The point is many people are unhappy that I am the first woman V-C,” she said while talking to The Indian Express.

“Scrutiny of her older tweets reveals that the account was operated by her…It is not possible for a person in this digital age to remain unaware for such a long time about a fake account being run in his/her name,” pointed out the JNU student activist.

It is worth mentioning here that at the time of the alleged anti-national protests at JNU, SD Pandit had branded the protesters as ‘Naxals’.

Five years after the JNU protests, when farmers gathered in Delhi, demanding withdrawal of the farm laws, Pandit supported the government’s stand through several tweets.

After pop singer Rihanna supported the protest, Pandit again made an objectionable remark in May last year, calling the protesters “dalal” in 2021.

Pointing out loopholes in claims made by Pandit, a former JNUSU activist said that the Twitter account, in all probability, belonged to her.

“There is a time gap of five years between 2016 and 2021. The account which the new VC denied having any link with was active all these years. Can anyone believe that someone was running a fake account in the name of a VC, and she remained totally unaware of it? Her claims do not support the common logic,” said the JNUSU activist.

Pertinently, after widespread outrage, the Twitter account in question was deleted.

After completing her PhD from JNU, Pandit started her teaching career at Goa University in 1988 and moved to Pune University in 1993.

She has held administrative positions at various academic bodies. She has also been a member of the University Grants Commission (UGC), the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), and the Visitor’s nominee to central universities.