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Tete-a-tete with Neelanjita Biswas, SFI’s Vice Presidential Candidate

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On Tuesday, 11th September 2018, DU Beat conducted an interview with Neelanjita Bishwas, the Vice-Presidential candidate of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) in context to the Delhi University Student Union Elections to be held on the 12th of September 2018.

Neelanjita is pursuing Political Science Honours from Hindu College. She is from West Bengal and has been working with SFI since class 12th.  
Here are some excerpts from the interview.

A majority of students feel detached from DUSU (Delhi University Student Union). In such a scenario, what is your model of establishing accountability?
We certainly consider this a major issue. As made clear in our agenda, we plan on holding regular union GBM (General Body Meetings) with students. Yesterday, we held a program called “Ask Your Candidate” and answers pointed questions about our manifesto and policies. We are ready for all sorts of criticism and questions.

What are your party’s opinions regarding the autonomy drive of the colleges?
Our party clearly opposes any such autonomy of colleges. We understand that autonomy entails economic privatisation which will lead to fee hike and compromise the diversity, accessibility, and inclusivity of university spaces. SFI has struggled against autonomy in the past and would continue doing so.

How inclusive do you think SFI in terms of minority representation?
At SFI we believe in equality. In fact, only after the recent NSUI allegations of casteism, we looked into the issue of minority representation and found that we have people coming from all socio-economic backgrounds in our party.

Lyngdoh Committee lays down five thousand rupees as the maximum expenditure amount. How does your party maintain it?
To make things clear at the very beginning, we are against the Lyngdoh Committee for its restrictive nature. Having said that, we are the only party that follows the expenditure and paperless election regulations, when everyone else is abusing it indiscriminately. The administration should take stringent actions against the same. At the same time, seeing other leftist parties engage in the same is extremely disappointing.

This election year, AISA has been accused of aligning with CYSS for monetary gains. How do you see these allegations?
First of all, it was disappointing to see AISA not aligning with us, in spite of our ideological similarities and the many wars we have fought together. As far as your question is concerned, I believe it would be more proper to pose this question to AISA leadership.

In an environment where clean and honest politics has a history of not bearing fruits, what motivates your party to keep on fighting?
A drive to weed out the corruption and mismanagement of resources, I would say. There is an inner drive which propels one to keep on working against all odds. 

SFI-AISF Panel 
1.  President (SFI)
Akashdeep Tripathi- Ballot no. 2
2. Vice President (SFI)
Nilanjita Bishwas- Ballot no. 4
3.  Secretary (AISF)
Subhash Bhat- Ballot no. 6
4.  Joint Secretary
Srejeet K.- Ballot no. 4

Feature Image Credits: SFI-AISF

Interview taken by Niharika Dabral ([email protected])

Interview transcribed by Nikhil Kumar ([email protected])

 

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 AISA-CYSS and NSUI Present Their Election Manifesto in Miranda House

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In a session today, AISA-CYSS and NSUI presented their election manifestoes in Miranda House. The Miranda House Student’s Union elections were also held.

Half an hour after noon today, the Miranda House auditorium was abuzz with students who had come to hear the candidates for various student’s unions making their election speeches. After the Miranda House Student’s Union elections (MHSU) candidates made their election speeches, representatives from AISA-CYSS and NSUI came forward for their campaigns.

Abhigyan, the AISA-CYSS Presidential candidate said in his campaign speech, “There is a narrative which has happened that university-level politics is very self-centred and is used as a stepping stone for advancing a person’s career, we are trying to change this narrative. Why shouldn’t there be a narrative where we can talk about politics? We are trying to build a Union which is not going to dictate the students.” Abhigyan raised several issues like financial autonomy, the use of muscle power and the masculinity that has crept up in politics. He also talked about how AISA had helped in building a girls’ hostel in Hindu College, fought for metro bus passes as well as campaigned against financial autonomy.

Abhigyan was then questioned extensively by the students who asked him on AISA’s stand on gender discrimination committees, why AISA was fielding a male Presidential candidate and so on.

After that, NSUI’s student candidate for the Vice-Presidential post, Leena tried to present her manifesto. However, some of the students of Miranda House opposed her before she could say anything, demanding that she leave the podium and that she was not “fit to be contesting elections.” Amid massive booing, Leena talked about the NSUI’s stance for women empowerment, to make University of Delhi (DU) an Institute of Eminence which would bring in public funds, to launch a thali for students worth 10 rupees, etc. Leena, who is a graduate of Miranda House, claimed that she used to “stand outside the gate of Miranda House regularly and campaign.” However, many students shouted that they hadn’t seen her outside the gate. She was also called out on her claim of not distributing any pamphlets in her name, what she would do on her part to change the politics of the University, and the fact that her name was changed from Leena to “A.A. Leena” in an alleged claim for getting the first ballot. Although Ms Leena tried to defend her position and that of her student union, the students booed her off the stage.

Ambica, a Miranda House student said, “The girl from NSUI didn’t have answers for anything. She just repeated a few things that she had been told to say. But it wasn’t surprising because once your party member has been accused of molestation and rape, there isn’t much that you could say.”

Muskan Dhar, the Vice-president of Women’s Development Cell of Miranda House, when asked if the booing was fair, said, “We heard Abhigyan and he was pretty correct in saying that the ICCs are not functional. As an ICC candidate, I know the kind of resistance we face in having meetings. The candidate from NSUI, however, did not have any proper manifesto. How Miranda reacted to it was two-fold. Some of it was justified since we know of the increasing violence around the campus, but I think we could have channelised our concerns in a better way.”

No official candidate of ABVP showed up and no official reasons were submitted for. Later in a notice released by the Staff Advisors of Miranda House, it was informed that the ABVP candidates would address the students of Miranda House tomorrow at from 12:45 to 1 p.m.

Feature Image Credits: Mahi for DU Beat

Sara Sohail

[email protected]

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Autobiography of an Election Flyer

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This is a real account of an election campaign flyer, its journey and observations

Fresh off the print, I and other flyers were stacked up in the morning. A few hours later, some of my brothers were stuck on the campus walls while others like me were kept to be distributed to the inhabitants of this world called the University of Delhi. We all have the same cliched font style. One might say we lack individuality. The only thing that is different is a label, I belong to the family of NSUI while my fellow flyers are put under the labels of ABVP and AISA. AISA guys are the poorer folks of the lot, their paper quality is cheap. ABVP and I are similar in social standing and almost the same in numbers.

So, as the sun got warmer in the day, some of the bearded political leaders/goons (they are looked at differently by different factions) went around and handed me over to a reluctant first-year student in a random North Campus college. My handler said “Vote for NSUI” in an intimidating voice and the fresher had no option but to accept me. The next instant, the procession of the Aviator glasses and marigold garland wearing youth politicians walked away; the fresher just threw me on the ground and resumed his business. He has joined this college to study and socialise. All this political business is no business for him.

As I lay on the ground, I saw a fellow ABVP brother flyer and an AISA sister. The latter called me a gunda and I replied using the best comeback in Hindi language ‘Jo bolta hai wo hi hota hai’. Then we all engaged in an intense shouting match, complete with threats and blame games. The ABVP flyer lost his cool to such an extent that he said if he had hands, he would have even slapped the AISA flyer. It ended up in awkward silence and I flew away to the canteen.

In the canteen, a kind old uncle took me and folded me like a fifth grader’s origami project. I got stained by oil as he wrapped me around a couple of samosas. I got a glimpse of this canteen world and it looked like a safe haven. This is the umbrella under which all groups take shelter, whether it be the pseudo-intellectuals, the goons, the nerds. or the good for nothing vellas. The girl who took me ate the samosas and threw me on the canteen floor even though a big dustbin was right in front of her. How much effort does it take to put me in the dustbin? Well anyway, that means more freedom for me.

So, I flew and I flew until I came on a sidewalk near the college gate. The passers-by were all staring at the motorcade of Scorpios adorned with NSUI and ABVP stickers. The party members and campaigners were perched on the hood of the moving cars. It all seemed like an updated version of the ‘Kiki challenge’. Then in a fit of excitement, they clenched several party flyers and cards in their fists and let them all loose on the crowded road. When the big muscled men and the big muscled cars departed from the road, the gravelled tar path was littered, or in a sense adorned, with hundreds of election flyers strew here and there. So much for Swach Bharat!

I was asleep for a few minutes so I did not realise when I ended up in this e-rickshaw. Some students in the vehicle are talking amongst themselves about a certain judgement day on 12th September. I am eager to know what will happen on this day. I hope that I am not stepped over or torn into shreds by then.

Feature Image Credits: Daily Mail

Shaurya Singh Thapa

[email protected]

 

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Kawalpreet Kaur attacked: Alleges Involvement of ABVP

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Kawalpreet Kaur, President of AISA was allegedly attacked on Friday in front of Kirori Mal College. DU Beat brings you a report on the incident.

In a Facebook post, Kawalpreet Kaur, the President of All India Student’s Association (AISA) at University of Delhi (DU) alleged that she had been attacked by the students of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in front of the hostel gate of the Kirori Mal College (KMC). She alleged that she, along with two of her friends, had gone to KMC for meeting a professor, where she was followed by a group of four people who “constantly abused” her. “It made me feel very humiliated and provoked me so much that my natural response was to slap him which I did. Immediately, without losing a second, the guy slapped me so tightly that I lost my balance for seconds and I had tears in my eyes,” Ms. Kaur said in her post. Her friend, Dhiraj Kumar, a Research Scholar at Ambedkar University, chased after the person who slapped her and was then assaulted by 12-15 people from the ABVP, the post mentioned.

DU Beat contacted Mr. Kumar, who had returned from the hospital after undergoing an X-ray test. “We were humiliated by two people from ABVP. When I saw that the guy who had slapped Kawal, was running away after slapping her, I started screaming that he had slapped a girl and ran away. The KMC guards who were there did not stop him and the guy escaped. I followed the guy and I saw around five ABVP people who accused me of chanting slogans like “Hindustan Murdabad”, when I denied them. They started beating me and they beat me a lot. They were trying to drag me outside the college but I tried to not come out. Around 15-20 people started to beat me up. Then, two people got hold of my legs and dragged me outside. The guards waiting did not even help me. In fact, they demanded I show them my ID,” Mr. Kumar told us.

“Finally, a teacher saw me from a rickshaw and controlled the people beating me. Then I quickly got into the college and the beating stopped. And I told the professor what happened. Later the police took me to the hospital and I was in the hospital for around 5-6 hours,” Mr. Kumar added.

Kawalpreet Kaur later filed a complaint against the incident in the Maurice Nagar Police station. In a Facebook post, she also named two people who she claimed were among the attackers, Sandeep Sharma, a first year B.A. honours student at KMC and Mohit Dahiya, the President of the KMC unit of ABVP.   

Counter allegations from ABVP 

When DU Beat contacted the Bharat Khatana, the Delhi State Secretary at ABVP for a statement, he said that Mohit Dahiya had been wrongfully implicated. “This is election propaganda by AISA. Whoever did this was wrong because one shouldn’t raise your hand on a girl. But Sandeep Sharma is not a part of ABVP. Mohit bhaiyya is a part of ABVP, but he is not involved in the incident at all…I just met them at the police station. The police questioned Mohit bhaiyya and Sandeep, checked the CCTV footage from the college and then released Mohit bhaiyya.”

Accusing Ms. Kaur for making wrong allegations, Mr. Khatana added, “Kawalpreet was the first to slap Sandeep Sharma. We have filed a counter-complaint against Kawalpreet Kaur for wrongfully implicating Mohit bhaiyya. Both Sandeep and Kawalpreet slapped each other. There is no involvement of ABVP here. This is just a plot to wrongfully accuse ABVP in anything (wrong) that happens in the college.”  

DU Beat also talked to Mohit Dahiya who blamed Ms. Kaur for making a false accusation. “Me and my friend were simply going towards the parking. I saw Kawalpreet and her two friends were contesting, were fighting with Sandeep Sharma. One of her friends said that here are two goondas from ABVP (at us). Sandeep had been ragged by Kawalpreet and others. I was standing away and I ran away to complain to the Principal office. I had no role in this.”

Mr. Dahiya, in turn, shared a video of two people from AISA, Shreya and Tanmay, who came to “threaten” him about his alleged role in the incident. In the video, Tanmay is seen to be saying before walking away, “Tell us who those two people were.” Shreya joined in saying, “You are a student of the college. You should have some shame that girls come here and you slap them.”

When Shreya, an activist of AISA, was asked about her comments, she told DU Beat, “We know that Mohit Dahiya was not directly involved in the violence. But he was there the whole time, he provoked them (the mob) that these were people from AISA and he was involved completely. When me and Tanmay went there because we were so angry with what happened with Kawalpreet, we looked for Mohit Dahiya, and we obviously asked them that who were those people. Mohit Dahiya and Rajat Choudhury were there and they started to be disrespectful to us. Such people should be dealt in such a way. If they behave with us like us, as a woman I am not going to stay quiet. It’s enough that they think that the girls won’t say anything even if we are faced with violence.”

Kawalpreet Kaur was recently also allegedly assaulted by a mob at Satyawati College. She accused the ABVP for being responsible for the incident. In a recent post, she accused the ABVP for spreading “vicious hate propaganda” against her, and trying to “delegitimize the incidents of harassment” faced by her. Regardless of the allegations from both sides, it is increasingly clear that this is one of the most violent election seasons at DU.  

Feature Image Credits: Kawalpreet Kaur on Facebook

Sara Sohail

[email protected]

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DU AISA President, Kawalpreet Kaur Attacked

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 AISA President Kawalpreet Kaur was attacked by goons yesterday. With frequent attacks on students, the safety of North Campus students raises a serious concern.

On Saturday, 18th August 2018, the University of Delhi President of All India Student’s Association(AISA) Kawalpreet Kaur and her four friends were attacked by goons around 12:05 a.m. in Vijay Nagar Double Storey area of North Delhi.

Kawalpreet Kaur was with four of her friends, Ankit Pandey, Jatin Verma, Rishabh Mishra and, Aman Nawaz when the incident took place outside Dinesh General Store in Vijaynagar. Three to four goons tried to harass Kawalpreet and passed lewd comments. When one of her friends tried to stop the goons, they attacked them. After few minutes, four more people joined the goons. Some of them appeared heavily drunk. One of them carried a pistol along with him and pointed it towards Kawalpreet telling her that he would kill all of them. Kawalpreet moved inside a building and locked herself up to protect herself from the goons, But, her friends were brutally attacked by beer and glass bottles. Ankit Pandey and Jatin Verma have sustained some serious internal injuries and fractures along with bruises on face and head. The CCTV footage of Dinesh General Store clearly shows the horrifying incident.

Complaint Copy 1
Credits – Kawalpreet Kaur’s Facebook Profile

A FIR has been filed by Kawalpreet Kaur regarding the incident in Model Town Police Station. The sections of the Indian Penal Code applied are Section 308- Attempt to commit culpable homicide, Section 323-Punishmentof voluntarily causing hurt, Section 341-Punishment for wrongful restraint ,Section 509- Word,gesture or act intended to hurt the modesty of a woman, Section 506(ii)- Punishment for criminal intimidation, and, Section 34-Acts done by several persons in furtherance of a common intention.

Kawalpreet Kaur along with some students took out a march from Vijay Nagar to Model Town Police Station on 19th August 2018 against the hooliganism taking place in the area, the attacks on the students and, for the police to take swift action. Delhi Police has identified and arrested four people named Ayush, Rahul, Shubham and Monu regarding the same. One of these owns an ironing shop in Vijay Nagar. The person with the pistol has been identified as Pawan, from Sangam Vihar and is yet to be arrested by the Delhi Police.

DU Beat spoke to Kawalpreet Kaur on the issue. She said, “With such crimes rising day by day, a question arises on the safety and security of the students living in the campus area.” Kawalpreet also informed that the Delhi Police inspector of Model Town, Satish Kumar questioned her as to why she was outside her room around 12:15 a.m. instead she should have stayed inside.

Here is the link of Kawlpreet’s Facebook post: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1623379317766221&id=100002825066775

Feature Image Credits: News Nation 

Anoushka Sharma 

[email protected] 

 

 

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AISA Protests Outside CM House for AC Buses, Kejriwal Agrees to Fulfill Demands by September 1st 

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In a protest held by the All India Student’s Federation (AISA) from the Civil Lines Metro Station to the residence of Chief Minister (CM) Arvind Kejriwal on 31st August 2018, the students demanded concessions for students travelling on AC buses.

Led by AISA leaders like President Kawalpreet Kaur and Secretary Madhurima Kundu, the thirty-odd strong group of students marched to Raj Niwas shouting slogans for the reduction in a price hike for AC buses.

Five members of the party including Ms. Kaur were allowed to go in to discuss their demands with the CM, while the rest of the students sat at dharna in front of the barricades outside the CM’s residence. After almost six hours of the sit-in protest, during which the party members outside sang protest songs and spoke about issues troubling the common student like fee hike, a conclusion was reached. In a press release, AISA members raised allegations of manhandling by the police inside the CM’s residence when a student from Hansraj College was kicked out. However, later they were soon called back into the CM’s office to wait. Finally, around 7 p.m. the CM met the student leaders and agreed to ensure the entire process for validation of the Student’s Bus passes.

AISA has been protesting for this issue since 25th January 2018 when they led another mass delegation of students to the CM’s office. The CM had then agreed to extend the validity of DTC bus passes from four months to six months for students and extended its preview to AC buses as well. However, since then, no such plan was executed.

In an official press release by AISA, the party mentions that the CM has agreed to complete the validation of the Student’s Bus Pass in AC buses within a month from 1st September. Mr. Kejriwal also tweeted recently about expediting the same.

 

In the same press release, AISA also mentions that it will now continue to further their demand and meet the Housing and Urban Minister, Hardeep Puri, on 3rd August 2018, demanding metro concessional passes for students.

Feature Image Credits: Adithya Khanna for DU Beat

Sara Sohail

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Hindu College Staff Association Passes Motion to Remove Acting Principal and GB

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In an emergent meeting held on 3rd July, the Hindu College Staff Association (HCSA) passed a unanimous resolution to remove the officiating Principal, Dr. Anju Srivastava, Dr. Ashok Mittal, and Chairman of Governing Body, Mr. S.N.P. Punj.

In the press release, the Staff Association has requested the Vice Chancellor of the University of Delhi (DU) to take the administration of the college from Hindu Education Trust to be changed into a university-run college. They have also appealed the Vice Chancellor to expand the Governing Body (GB) by bringing in more academics and teachers of the university.

HCSA has stated that it will approach authorities deemed appropriate by the executive to inform them of the tactics employed by the Chairman for his past moves for acquiring autonomy and a ‘Deemed University’ status. HCSA will not be restricted just to the Vice Chancellor, Delhi University, University Grants Commission Chairperson, Ministry of Human Resource Development, and Prime Minister’s Office.

In 2016, Chairman S.N.P. Punj had written to IAS Mr. Tarun Bajaj and Mr. Brijesh Pandey of Prime Minter’s Office seeking expansion and re-structuring of the college into The School of Sciences, School of Languages, and School of Social Sciences. In the letter, he proposed to start professional programs like B.Sc Microbiology, B.Sc Nanoscience, B.A. in Financial Services, B.A. in International Relations, and eight others on a self-financing basis. Some fundamental level courses like Environment and Public Health, Mind and Behaviour, and Governance and Citizenship were also suggested.  According to his plan, a chain of colleges would have opened in Haryana, Rajasthan, and Punjab under the Hindu College banner.

The matter escalated for the HCSA when it was found that the Chairman had applied to the Prime Minister’s Office for executive intervention to convert the college into a deemed university last year, which would speed up the process of expanding the brand name. The proposal was undertaken without the knowledge, consent, and mandate of the staff council and other GB members.

The President and Secretary of the HCSA have been threatened in the past with show cause notices for protesting against the proposed sale of the college to the highest bidder by the GB. Such steps were bound to lead to higher fees, more expensive hostels, lower academic standards, and dilution of constitutional equal opportunity norms.

In conversation with DU Beat, Professor Atul Gupta, Assistant Professor of Commerce, and Secretary of the Staff Association commented, “The teachers have been protesting against autonomy for two years and the Principal and the Chairman of the Governing Body have kept them in the dark. They are ready to sell the college and use the Hindu College brand name to earn money at the cost of students and teachers. My only appeal is to the students of the University to join the dharna from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Hindu College premises because this is the time to safeguard our colleges from getting prvitised.”

Kawalpreet Kaur, President of All India Students’ Association (AISA) Delhi, has vouched for AISA’s full support to Hindu College professors and their demands. She has claimed that the Principal and GB Chairman lied to the students and professors and secretly colluded with the government, it is completely illegal and unfair that important stakeholders were left out and not consulted, she remarked.

The HCSA will be sitting on the dharna for seven working days starting 4th July. If the authorities fail to concede to the demands, the HCSA will escalate the method of protest. On the last day of the dharna, a press conference will be held. A campaign on social media by the college has already begun under the hashtag, #SmashAutonomy.

 

Feature Image Credits: Hindu College Staff Association

Prachi Mehra

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SFI and AISA Demand Roll of Fee Hike in DU Colleges 

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The University of Delhi (DU) has commenced admissions to undergraduate courses from the 19th of June 2018. Significantly, this year’s admission season is marked by a pronounced fee hike in many courses across the varsity. 

Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and All India Students’ Association (AISA) have resisted this move towards fee hike. Interestingly, this hike comes at the backdrop of the teacher and student community’s struggle against the onslaught of ‘autonomy’ in DU’s affiliated colleges. 

In conversation with DU Beat, Vandana Kaul, a Professor at Deshbandhu College, said, “The fee hike is indeed serious. We saw that in the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) strike, students and karamcharis had both expressed their grievances against the fragmentation and privatisation of DU through graded autonomy. The fee hike is a consequence of this move towards autonomy.”

Madhurima Kundu, Secretary of AISA’s DU unit, told the DU Beat correspondent, “On the first day of this year’s admission season, we had protested in front of the Vice Chancellor’s (VC) office. We had met the Dean of Students’ Welfare as well. We were informed that the hike in fees was carried out without knowledge of the varsity. Now, we will be holding protests in the colleges where fee hike has taken place.”

Meanwhile, in a phone call conversation with DU Beat, Anshika Dutta, a DU applicant of this academic session testified, “I have taken admission in Kamla Nehru College for B.Com (Hons) in the first list. And I had to pay over INR 13,000 for my admission.”

At Dyal Singh College, the fee was increased last year as well. The staff council has asked for a roll-back, alleging that it was done without the Governing Body’s (GB) nod. The circular which reached DU Beat through a representative of the SFI read, “In Dyal Singh College, Garden Fee has been hiked from INR 25 to INR 300, Annual Day fees from INR 30 to INR 300, Sports fees from INR 600 to INR 1500..”

Countering the claims that the fee hike was done without the approval of the GB, Principal IS Bakshi said, “The rule is, once the fee hike was decided by the Chairman, it has to be approved by the GB. I have placed it on the agenda. If re-thinking needs to be done, we will decide then.”

Some DU colleges have increased their fee citing a hike in hostel and maintenance fee. Deen Dyal Upadhyaya (DDU) College has increased its fees by almost INR 4,000. “There is a marginal increase of INR 4,000, as the annual maintenance fee of the new campus comes up to INR 3- 4 crore”, said SK Garg, Principal of DDU. The SFI’s circular informed DU Beat that in the fees of Humanities stream of the college, there has been a hike of 36%.

SFI, through its circular, has sent out a warning to the DU administration to immediately revoke the “anti-student fee hike”. The circular concluded on the note that the SFI will intensify the movement against fee-hike and autonomy in the days to come as they plan “to resist the attacks on public funded education.”

Feature Image Credits: Free Press Journal

Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak

[email protected]

 

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UGC to Visit St. Stephen’s College Amidst Dissent Against Autonomy

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A team from the University Grants Commission is set to visit St. Stephen’s College on 10th and 11th May 2018, after the Governing Body (GB) of the college had in-principle agreed to apply for autonomy.

The most recent development in the fight against commercialisation of public education through privatisation, the University Grants Commission (UGC) is going to be visiting the campus of St. Stephen’s College for an inspection on 10th-11th May 2018. This visit is a consequence of the Governing Body of the college agreeing in-principle to apply for autonomy.

The issue of autonomy has been much talked about in the University of Delhi this year, with several protests being organised and students as well as teachers’ speaking out against this pressing issue.

Nandita Narain, a senior professor from the maths department of St. Stephen’s College, told DU Beat “44 out of 56 permanent teachers of the college have written to the UGC in opposition to this move in which we have outlined our objection against the way this decision was taken, in an emergency meeting of the GB last year, without any kind of consultation from the teachers, karamcharis, and students, who are the primary stakeholders.”

Adding to the objections raised by the teachers, she further said, “There is no clarity surrounding the implications of this move as no clear picture has been laid out regarding the financial structure of the college, the regulation of fees, and the service conditions of the teachers. The fate of the Ad-hoc teachers’ is also shaky.” She pointed out that there is nothing to gain from this move, as the college is not equipped to take on the massive administrative and academic burdens that will come with autonomy. Questioning the functioning of the administration, she also told the DU Beat correspondent that the present management functions in an arbitrary and non-transparent manner.

Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) and All India Students’ Association (AISA) are conducting protests outside St. Stephen’s College tomorrow at 10 a.m., when the UGC visit is scheduled. AISA has also started a signature campaign to oppose this move. In a phone conversation with DU Beat, Kawalpreet Kaur, Head of AISA’s Delhi University Unit said, “We have been conducting a signature campaign since the examinations started, by putting up a desk at the Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station in the evening. Tomorrow, we will also be protesting along with DUTA when the UGC visit is scheduled, to convey that we are against the arbitrary manner in which the decisions are being taken by the administration, when the students and teachers are totally in opposition to this move. Through the signature campaign, we have aimed to start a long-term agitation against this move towards autonomy, and we will also be actively protesting any fee hikes that will happen in the coming semesters in any colleges of DU.”

 

Feature Image Credits: St. Stephen’s College

Bhavya Banerjee

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AISA Burns Effigy of Modi Government in Support of Bharat Bandh

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On 20th March 2018, the Supreme Court through a ruling had allegedly diluted the Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989, which protects the marginalised communities against discrimination and atrocities.

It had issued a slew of guidelines banning automatic arrests and registration of criminal cases under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 without conducting a preliminary enquiry.

This means that the arrest of an accused under the aforementioned Act is not mandatory and action would take place only after preliminary inquiry and sanction by the competent authority has taken place.

This verdict of the highest court had triggered widespread criticism from the Dalit community which fears that this order will lead to more discrimination and atrocities against the backward communities. Dalit organisations called for a Bharat Bandh today to protest against the alleged dilution of the act.

In support of the ‘bandh’, the All India Students’ Association (AISA) burnt the effigy of the Modi Government in front of the Arts Faculty on Monday. President of AISA (DU unit) Kawalpreet Kaur remarked, “The Modi government is the biggest anti-Dalit government to come to power.”

Speaking to the crowd which had gathered to witness the effigy burning, she asserted, “We know that the Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989 was in itself a weak act. Neither was it ever implemented properly. But the new ruling of the Apex Court which dilutes the already weak provisions of the 1989 Act would render the disadvantaged communities completely vulnerable to discrimination and atrocities.”

The protesters raised slogans such as, “Minority Pe Atyachaar Bandh Karo” (Stop atrocities against minorities), “SC-ST Kanoon Mein Badlav Nahi Chalega” (We will not allow changes in the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act) and “Modi Sarkar Murdabad” (Down with the Modi government). Members of the AISA also burnt effigies of the government at Aurobindo College, Satyawati College, and Jamia Milia Islamia.

 

 

Feature Image Credits: Kawalpreet Kaur

Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak
[email protected]

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