Santishree Dhulipudi
Pandit, the newly-appointed vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU),
has landed in controversy over her very first press release. While several
social media users called out the head of India’s premier central university,
the sharpest attack came from Varun Gandhi, a BJP MP who often breaks ranks to
speak his mind.

“This press release from the new JNU VC is an
exhibition of illiteracy, littered with grammatical mistakes (would strive vs
will strive; students friendly vs student-friendly; excellences vs excellence).
Such mediocre appointments serve to damage our human capital & our youth’s
future,” Varun Gandhi wrote on Twitter while sharing the press release.

Also Read | JNU appoints first female vice-chancellor, Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit

Several others
questioned her appointment as the JNU vice-chancellor because of her errors.

Pandit, 59, is the
first woman vice-chancellor of JNU. She succeeds M Jagadeesh Kumar who has now
taken over as the chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC).

In her very first press
release, Santishree Pandit wrote that her tenure would focus on “constructing Indo-centric
narratives.”

An alumna of JNU,
Pandit was teaching political science at Pune’s Savitribhai Phule University
until being appointed the vice chancellor.

In the wake of her
appointment as JNU VC, certain tweets attributed to her went viral on social
media from a now de-activated handle. One of the tweets described actor-director
Kamal Haasan as a “Hindu abuser” and “rice bag convert,” according to an NDTV
report.

Also Read | As JNU appoints new VC, her old posts spark Twitter outrage

Yet another tweet, as
per the same report, stated: “Godse thought action was important and identified
a solution for a united India in the assassination of one person Mahatma Gandhi.
Sad.”

Dhulipudi began her
teaching career in 1988 and shifted to Pune University in 1993. The political
science professor has served as a member of the UGC and the Indian Council of
Social Science Research, according to a Zee Business report.