[8][9] The bill for the establishment of Jawaharlal Nehru University was placed in the Rajya Sabha on 1 September 1965 by the then-Minister of Education, M. C. Chagla.

New faculties should be created, including scientific socialism, and one thing that this university should ensure was to keep noble ideas in mind and provide accessibility to students from weaker sections of society.

[16] The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) trainee officers will be awarded an MA degree in Public Management from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi.

On 24 October 2008 the Supreme Court of India stayed the JNU elections and banned the JNUSU for not complying with the recommendations of the Lyngdoh committee.

In part, this is because of the prevalence of Centre-left student politics and the existence of a written constitution for the university to which noted Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Prakash Karat contributed exhaustively during his education at JNU.

[41] In 2010 a "JNU Forum Against War on People" was organised "to oppose Operation Green Hunt launched by the government.

"[42][note 2] NSUI and ABVP activists undertook a march against this meeting,[42] "which was seen as an attempt to support the Naxalites and celebrate the massacre,"[45] after which the various parties clashed.

[49] To counter the "growing homophobia" on the campus, JNU Students' Union along with other queer groups like Anjuman and Dhanak, led a march on 9 January, called Rainbow Walk.

[51] On 9 February, a cultural evening was organised by 10 students, formerly of the Democratic Students' Union (DSU), at the Sabarmati Dhaba, against the execution of 2001 Indian Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and separatist leader Maqbool Bhat, and for Kashmir's right to self-determination.

[52] Slogans like "Pākistāna Zindābāda" ("Long live Pakistan"), "Kaśmīra kī āzādī taka jaṃga calegī, Bhārata kī barbādī taka jaṃga calegī" ("War will continue till Kashmir's freedom, war will continue till India's demolition") were reportedly raised at the protest meet.

[54] JNU administration ordered a "disciplinary" enquiry into the holding of the event despite denial of permission, saying any talk about country's disintegration cannot be "national".

[55] The Delhi Police arrested the JNU Students' Union President Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid on charges of sedition and criminal conspiracy, under section 124 of the Indian Penal Code dating back to 1860.

[56][57] The arrest soon snowballed into a major political controversy, with several leaders of opposition parties visiting the JNU campus in solidarity with the students protesting against the police crackdown.

[59] In a separate statement, over 130 world-leading scholars including Noam Chomsky, Orhan Pamuk and Akeel Bilgrami called it a "shameful act of the Indian government" to invoke sedition laws formulated during colonial times to silence criticism.

[citation needed] On 25 March 2016, the Google Maps search for 'anti national' led users to JNU campus.

[62] The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi inaugurated 151-inch tall statue of Swami Vivekananda on 151st Jayanti of Jainacharya Shree Vijay Vallabh Surishwer Ji Maharaj and referred as the Statue of Peace whereas the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union protested outside the JNU campus and raised slogans such as ‘Uninvited Modi Go Back’, ‘Punish the perpetrators of January 5th attack’, ‘Save Public Education’ and ‘Unlock JNU’ among others.

[68] JNU was shut down for 46 days by Indian government in 1981 after violence by student unions linked to communist parties.

[69] In April 2000, two army officers who disturbed an Indo-Pak mushaira at the JNU campus were beaten up by agitated students.

After protests, the university partially rolled back by reducing fees only for students from families with extreme poverty (BPL category) who do not avail any scholarship.

On 5 January 2020, a group of masked vandals entered the campus, destroyed property and beat up several people.

This drew widespread condemnation from the public, with opposition parties, Bollywood celebrities and human rights activists expressing their concerns.