Tribal woman’s appointment as vice chancellor hailed

By Matters India Reporter

Ranchi, May 28, 2020: Several activists and students have hailed the appointment of a professor of New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, a tribal woman, as the vice chancellor of a university in Jharkhand.

Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu on May 28 appointed Sonajharia Minz to head the Sido Kanhu Murmu University in Dumka, Jharkhand.

Governor Murmu is the chancellor of all universities in Jharkhand, an eastern Indian state.

Hailing the appointment, human rights activist Beena Johnson said, “Super excited to hear the news of Prof Sonajharia Minz to become the Vice-Chancellor of Sidho Kanho Murmu University, Jharkhand. What a great stride forward for Adivasi Women. … In these times of deep anxieties this news comes as a breath of fresh air!”

Some took to social media platforms to express their happiness over the appointment of Minz, former president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Union (JNUTA).

“One most beautiful news in longest time,” Shweta Goswami wrote on her Facebook page. “Former- JNUTA president Prof Sona Jharia Minz has been appointed as Vice-Chancellor of Sidhu Kanhu Murmu University Dumka, Jharkhand. Jai Bhim! Hul Johar!,” said Goswami, the director of Varanasi-based Nirmal Initiative – Building strong communities to end Violence.

Merina Tigga, one of Minz’s former students, wrote: “Congratulations ma’am. You are always my inspiration from day one of my JNU. Still, I remember your support and guidance. May the almighty bless you in abundance for this great responsibility,” wrote

Tigga did her Master of Computer Applications in JNU.

Another journalist and tribal woman activist, who requested anonymity, said she had many opportunities to interact with Minz at academic discourses in sociocultural events.

“I have always admired her as a great Adivasi thinker and academician. She is God fearing, simple, and a soft-hearted person who would often breakdown when she talked about the Adivasis.”

She expressed the hope that Minz would take the tribal university to “a great height and make it a model institute. A very proud moment for all Adivasis, for women in particular and for Oraons.”

Minz is currently a professor of School of Computer and Systems Sciences in JNU.

She was among the professors who were injured during the January 5 night attack on the JNU campus by unidentified masked people.

Minz completed higher studies from JNU and Madras Christian College in Chennai, capital of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. She had done master’s. in Mathematics from Madras Christian College.

She has a doctorate in Computer Science from JNU.

Her areas of interest and specialization have been geo-spatial informatics, spatio-temporal data analysis, data mining, machine learning, and rough sets.

Before joining JNU in 1992, Minj taught as assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science, Madurai Kamraj University, Madurai, Tamil Nadu (1991-1992) and Department of Computer Science, Barkatullah University, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh (1990 – 1991).

She has also published several research papers in peer-reviewed national and international journals.

She will now head the Sido Kanhu Murmu University (SKMU), formerly Siddhu Kanhu University, located in the Santhal Parganas region of Jharkhand. Its headquarters is at Dumka, some 280 km northeast of Ranchi, the state capital.

The university was founded as Siddhu Kanhu University in 1992 by an Act of Bihar Legislative Assembly.

It came under Jharkhand state, which was formed in 2000.

The university’s jurisdiction extends over the six districts of Santhal Parganas. It has 13 constituent and nine permanently affiliated colleges are located.

The University is a tribute to the two legendary Santhal freedom fighters, Sido Murmu and Kanhu Murmu, who led the Santhal rebellion popularly known as Santhal Hul against the exploitation of the British colonial rule in 1855, two years before the First War of Independence in India.