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On the birth anniversary of Late Prashant Yadav, a DSJ student and the architect of the “Stand With DSJ” movement, a seminar was organised to discuss student politics where student leaders from Delhi University (DU), Jamia Milia Islamia (JMI), Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Patna University (PU), and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) spoke about the issues concerning university campuses amidst remembering Prashant. 

On 6th November 2019, the date he would have turned 20 had he been around us,  a memorial meet was organised to remember Prashant Yadav, a young Journalism student from DSJ and the architect of the “Stand With DSJ” movement which intended to fight against privatisation policy of DU. The event, organised in the form of a seminar in Satyakam Bhawan, Arts Faculty, had eminent student leaders on board who came from varsities across the country to speak on student politics, campus issues and the changing role of universities. Pooja Shukla, National Vice President, Samajvaadi Chatrasabha, spoke on the need for students to question the Government and espoused the role of universities as the cradle of democracy. Rocky Tuseed, Ex-President, Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU)  broke down while remembering Prashant. Salman Imtiaz, President Aligarh Muslim University Students’ Union (AMUSU) asserted the importance of plurality and diversity in India. Kawalpreet Kaur, Delhi President, All India Students’ Union (AISA) asserted on the need to have more students like Prashant in the campus. Divyanshu Bharadwaj, Former President, Patna University, lamented the ailing condition of state universities. Jayant Jagyasu, C-RJD Leader, spoke about the state of marginalised people in university campuses.

A homage to Prashant by his teacher, Dr Albert Abraham, classmates, and invited speakers was followed by the seminar whose focus was to highlight the role of student politics in campuses. As the invitees were from nooks and corners of the country, their respective speeches contained concerns over changing demographics in India.

Remembering Prashant through this event was an attempt to reconcile his ambition, ideals, and thoughts.

Suman Shekhar, a third-year Journalism undergraduate student at DSJ and a close friend of Prashant’s said, “Prashant always wanted to be a part of the Delhi University election system. He wanted to bust the common notion that only rich students, able to shed 50-60 lakhs, could contest elections here. He wanted to fight elections following the Lyndogh Committee’s guidelines.”

He continued, “He contributed immensely in the entire Stand with DSJ Movement. Even if he had become a journalist, our country would have been graced with one fine journalist.” On asking how big a loss it was for him Suman said, “Personally, I can’t articulate that in words. I knew nobody when I came to Delhi. I always used to hang around with Prashant. Humare liye roz ka din vanvaas jaisa hogaya hai , hum kaat rahe hai bas. (After Prashant’s demise, my life is like an exile now).”

Prashant was on his way to Lucknow to celebrate Diwali on 4th November 2018, when he met with an accident on Yamuna Expressway. He and his two siblings died on spot. Prashant was actively involved in student politics and was associated with the student union of the Samajwadi Party.

“Its really saddening that we had to organise this program. It would have been better had Prashant been around with us today,” said Kawalpreet Kaur. She added, “I feel, the DSJ Movement that Prashant organised was very important because it was  the first movement where students protested against privatisation.”

Rockey Tuseed remembered Prashant’s vivid memories and got emotional while delivering his speech. He said to DU Beat, “When I became the DUSU President, we (I and Prashant) used to have a lot of discussion on the infrastructural problems of DSJ. We have protested together. When I was on a hunger strike, he came along to support me. He was like a younger brother to me.”

A scholarship in memory of Prashant was announced for meritorious students coming to DSJ from economically depressed background for the coming sessions.

 

Feature Image Credits – Mohit Dock

 

Priyanshu

[email protected]

 

 

 

On 31st July, over 100 students of Delhi School of Journalism (DSJ) staged a protest outside the Vice Chancellor lounge. The students were protesting against the frivolous action and discriminatory treatment of Prakash Ranjan, who is one of the Journalism students in his third-year.

The students who participated in the protest expressed their solidarity with him and raised many key contentious issues. Ranjan was framed in a fake Unfair Means (UFM) case. He is not the first student to be framed in such a manner and the same has happened previously also, reads the WhatsApp text message that was circulated.

It was alleged that he tried to manhandle and abuse the teacher during an examination. However, as per the message, it was a simple argument which turned into a serious UFM case. The complaint filed by Ranjan against the concerned teacher has also been ignored.

Prakash Ranjan said, “I was simply asking for a pen around 8:45 a.m. when the exam had not even started. It was at this time that I got picked on by the teacher who made some derogatory remarks.”

According to Suman Shekhar, one of the classmates of Prakash, the teacher was downright obnoxious and derogatory. When they approached him, he abused and mocked them and said, “Agar voh yahan sey chooth gaya, tab bhi mein usko tangwa dunga.” (Even if he is relieved in this case, still I will teach him a lesson).
To Mohammed Ali, who is another classmate, he was not only derogatory but also communal and was quoted to have said, “Ali tumhari bhi bali hogi.” (Ali, even you will be sacrificed).

There is a delay in the enquiry of Ranjan’s complaint letter. Due to this, his attendance is not being recorded and his result has been withheld. If the enquiry is delayed further he won’t be able to approach the courts for a fair trial and his case will be dismissed as immature.
However, Ranjan has filed a Right To Information complaint to get the copy of his case and is adamant to go to court even if the decision turns out to be against his favour. He further said, “I am falsely implicated in this case by Manishvini Yogi as I am an activist. A simple act of asking for a pen has been turned into a grave UFM case which can have severe consequences but I am not deterred as I will seek proper legal actions.”

According to the sources, several other students have alleged that they were targeted in the fourth exam and also being singled out due to their participation in the protest. They were allegedly failed in internals despite submitting all their assignments. It was also noted that a student who received a zero in his  Media and Culture Studies internal assessment was reporting a fake caste allegation made by another faculty member on the teacher, who has resigned due to unfair appointments.

Last year, students protested against the lack of basic amenities in DSJ. They went on a hunger strike and were able to procure basic infrastructure and facilities. Some students also got a hostel seat and everyone can now avail a bus pass.

The students further demand a centralised evaluation and external invigilation during examinations to ensure complete fairness.

 

Feature Image Credits: Delhi School of Journalism

 

Antriksha Pathania
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Delhi University has an active atmosphere of protests almost every other week or month. Hence, protests have almost become a part of DU life! Here’s a throwback at some impactful protests that shook DU.
Library Union
Deriving from a letter to the VC (Vice Chancellor) the Delhi University and Colleges Library Employees Association (DUCLEA) protested early in August to initiate the implementation of the Recruitment Rules Review Committee Rules and the ACP/MACP Pay Scale Committee Report. A lot of other demands like removal of library attendance system from college libraries were also raised. However, the familiar stalling of rightful demands has led to the stagnation of the report for over 18 (now 26) months.
year end 1Featured Image Credits: Namrata Randhawa for DU Beat
DSJ 
Constantly headlining the campus news flash, Delhi School.of Journalism has seen one of its most charged years given to resistance, as yet. The struggles of DSJ students to attain a reasonable quality of education by requesting the concerned authorities to justify the hefty fees were multiple but in vain; ineffective due to  delay in “administrative/authoritative approval”. A month later in September, 2018, inability to fulfill the previously promised valid concerns of the students led to another round of suspension of classes and oppression of the crusaders protesting in the DSJ campus.
year end 2
Feature Image Credits: Neerav
Young India Adhikar March (YIAM)
Inspired by the Kisan Mukti March, this march saw students from all over the country marching from the Red Fort to Parliament Street on the 7th of February.
year end 3Featured Image Credits: Jaishree Kumar for DU Beat
People’s March
Barely a fortnight after YIAM, students, teachers and unions marched in solidarity from Mandi house to Parliament Street to protect public higher funded education. The march was led by Delhi University Teachers’ Union (DUTA) along with various other organisations.
year end 4Featured Image Credits: Adithya Khanna for DU Beat
V-Tree Protests at Hindu College 
On 14 February, massive protests erupted in an attempt to disrupt, if not stop, the annual ‘Virgin Tree pooja’ tradition of Hindu College. Members of Pinjra Tod, SFI and Hindu College Progressive Front jointly protested and clashed against supporters of the pooja, mainly students of the Boys’ Hostel. The protests, widely covered by the media, had led to a few scuffles.
year end 5Featured Image Credits- Prateek Pankaj for DU Beat
Mathematics Department Protests 
Mass failures in the examinations for MSc Mathematics had rocked the department. They received their results on 8 February and had started protesting on 14 February. The protesters demanded to be shown copies of the answer sheets along with an independent investigation, among other things. Various other departments in addition to the Mathematics Department and organisations like AISA, SFI, KYS, and DSU joined the protests.
year end 6Featured Image Credits- Anoushka Sharma for DU Beat
DRC hostel protests
On the 23rd of February, protests broke out at the hostel gate of Daulat Ram College after mishaps at the college hostel and the rampant culture of hatred and sexism. The protesters demanded basic rights which were being violated by the DRC hostel board.  The fight continued on to the next day, the 24th, when residents marched from their hostel gate towards the Vice Chancellor’s office and staged a sit down.
year end 7
Featured Image Credits- Pragati Thapa for DU Beat
DUTA Protests 
The Delhi University Teachers’ Association had carried out sustained protests since the beginning of the year and even before that, against issues like the 13 point roster system, privatisation and the needs of ad-hoc teachers. Human chains, candlelight marches, ‘total strikes’ and a ‘Bharat Bandh’ were few of the measures adopted by the association and its supporters. The protests succeeded in bringing an ordinance by the government on 8 March to restore the old 200 point roster system.
year end 8
Featured Image Credits-  DU Beat Archives

Cover Image Credits- Pragati Thapa for DU Beat

 

Kartik Chauhan

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Jaishree Kumar

 

A fire broke out on Friday night in the building in University Stadium. The cause of the fire has been reported to be a short circuit. No casualties have been reported as the situation was brought under control soon.

The building near the sports ground of University Stadium caught fire last night. The incident occurred in the building which has various offices. The alleged cause of the fire has been reported to be a short circuit. However, the situation was soon brought under control as the fire brigades reached in time and thus the fire could be stopped from spreading to nearby places. No casualties have been reported so far. The University Stadium is situated in the North Campus, just next to the Delhi School of Journalism. The fire was under control and thus Delhi School of Journalism, housed in the University Stadium is safe.

The walls of the gallery in the building were noticed to have turned black with pungent fumes all around. A video of the same has been circulated by a student of Delhi School of Journalism in which a few firefighters can be seen on the site. Police were also present on the location but no statements could be taken from them.

Fire is also one of the most common safety hazards, the reason behind which in most cases is found out to be short circuits caused by faulty or loose wires. Fire incidents in the university campus have become more common as a few months back, a fire broke out in the chemistry block of Hansraj College which was also allegedly caused by a short circuit. Thus, this is the second fire incident in three months in the university campus. Luckily both the incidents were not very major and thus were controlled on time because of the presence of mind of the people present on the accident location. The fact that the fire brigades did not cause any delay in reaching the accident spot was also the main reason that the situation could be brought under control and the fire could be stopped from spreading to nearby locations.

However, not many people have any information about the incident as colleges are shut because of mid-semester break and others who are aware of the happenings have declined to give any details.

Image credits: Times of India

Priya Chauhan

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As stated in a press release, the students of Delhi School of Journalism have decided to move to the court for non-delivering of the promised facilities.

Delhi School of Journalism (DSJ) has been in the limelight for continuous protests and agitation against the University administration for non-fulfilment of basic infrastructure facilities like a proper media lab and a computer lab required for the course, since its inception. Dr. M.M. Yogi, Officer on Special Duty, Delhi School of Journalism had assured the students that their demands would be fulfilled ‘soon’, but the situation remains unchanged.

In a revolutionary move, students have now decided to appeal to the apex court against the University to resolve their problems and grievances. According to a press release, students of DSJ, Mohammad Ali, Suman Shekhar, Shahid Ansari,and Ankit Shukla moved to the Supreme Court regarding the matter.

Mohammad Ali, a second-year student of DSJ informed DU Beat that despite paying the highest fee in the University of Delhi, students of DSJ are deprived of basic facilities. He also stated that this step has been undertaken after facing disappointment by the hands of other senior authorities of Delhi University like the Vice Chancellor and Registrar. The students are seeking help from renowned lawyer Mr. Prashant Bhushan.

Maknoon Wani, another student of DSJ stated “The University and DSJ administration have collectively breached our trust. After a series of protests and the subsequent assurances given to us in writing, there hasn’t been any significant development in our college. No media lab has been established and we don’t have the infrastructure required for the proper functioning of the course. Lack of transparency is also an issue for us.” He added that the University has not made any records public citing that the audit has not been done. As a last resort, the students have decided to move to the court.

On the other hand, a press release by Professor J.P. Dubey, Honorary Director of DSJ stated that the students are being provided with the basic facilities, decent classrooms, media workshops, and field visits. It also states that students of third and fourth semester have been provided laptops and are also being exposed to various national and international agencies. 25% students from each batch and section are provided fee concession of 20% to 80% of the tuition fee was also mentioned in the release.

Mohammad Ali believes that if everything goes well, they will soon file an official court case against the University with the help of senior lawyer, Prashant Bhushan. Mr.Bhushan has also assured the students to help them in every possible way.

 

(With inputs from DU Beat Archives)

 

Image Credits: Suman Shekhar

Sakshi Arora

[email protected]

Delhi School of Journalism is reported to introduce short-term courses soon, but the students remain skeptical about the new venture due to the history of the institute’s provisions.

As per several sources, the Delhi School of Journalism (DSJ) has ventured into the arena of offering short-term journalism courses, starting from the upcoming academic year. The reports of the decision were first shared on 12th January 2019, but the decision was in tandem with the provisions of the ordinance under which the school was established.

According to Ordinance XX (N), there are ten primary objectives of the concerned journalism school, including the identification and nurture of aspiring journalists, enrichment of the discipline through trans-disciplinary modules, offering of ‘Add-on’ courses on foreign and regional languages, and the availability of short-term courses for working journalists and university students. When the courses begin, then the community of working journalists can choose to improve and enhance their media and communication skills by signing up.

Started in 2017 with a batch of 120 students, DSJ now has a total of 218 students across two batches. Since its inception, DSJ has been a part of numerous controversies and protest demonstrations with respect to the educational amenities provided to the students. For instance, the students sat on a hunger strike for numerous days in September, 2018. They then decided to take the demonstrations to the Vice President, Venkaiah Naidu,who inaugurated the institute in 2017. Their demands have been inclusive of housing facilities, infrastructure, library accessibility et al.

Whether the move to delve into a new venture is productive remains unclear for some because numerous objectives of the ordinance have not been fulfilled during DSJ’s functioning. Anoushka Sharma, a second-year student at the institute, remains skeptical about the endeavor. She said, “I just feel that starting short term courses while not having proper infrastructure for the ongoing course is an issue. Since the past eight months, the students of DSJ have been protesting for better facilities. This includes the basic facilities like a media lab for a journalism course given the fee-structure, which is considerably demanding.”

Dr. Manasvini M Yogi, Officer on Special Duty of DSJ, said that the courses are not available at present, but are in pipeline. Her  statement to the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) is as follows: “Since we are a new college and have just started our second batch, things are bound to take some time. But we are planning to start the short-term courses by 2020 latest, and if we can, we will start the courses from 2019.” When asked about digital journalism courses, the OSD stated to IANS- “We will have to see about all that. Too early to talk about the kind of courses we will start. But a course in digital journalism will be there and since these would be for working journalists, the classes may be held on weekends.”

 

Feature Image Credits: Sandeep Samal and Srivedant Kar for DU Beat.

 

Anushree Joshi

[email protected]

Delhi School of Journalism has once again made the headlines, amid malpractice controversies and protests.

The students of Delhi School of Journalism have been visibly agitated this semester: the campus has seen discontent escalate into protests, violence and unwarranted disciplinary actions. The frustration stems from poor infrastructure facilities, unavailability of the media labs, edit bays, cameras- which had been promised in the prospectus. The fee structure is unusually high, which doesn’t help the students.

The students of Delhi School of Journalism organised a Chhatra Sangarsh Rally on 25th September 2018 in North Campus of the University. The rally came three days after the students broke off the four-day long hunger strike after getting written assurance for the fulfilment of their promises. The students demanded a lower fee structure, funds from the University Grants Commission, basic facilities, media lab and ICT Centre, financial transparency, faculty on regular basis, and the right to dissent.

The students now allege concerted attempts on behalf of the authorities to ‘silence dissent’. This comes following unfair suspensions of several students. The student fraternity of DSJ has released a plea for help, citing the example of a student who is facing severe hardships at the hands of the authorities. Ambuj Bharadwaj, a second year student from DSJ has been suspended without reasonable grounds. He was a prominent face of the Stand With DSJ cause, and had previously been unlawfully detained by Delhi Police.The students have filed several pleas with the college Review Committee, which includes the Director of the college, Prof. J.P. Dubey. Mr. Dubey has been accused of acting vengefully and with disregard for student welfare. The student’s wishes have not yet been addressed, and Ambuj continues to miss his semester examinations, as the authorities conveniently postpone a judgement. 

 

Feature Image Credits: Financial Express

Nikita Bhatia

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A canteen staff member of Cluster Innovation Centre (CIC), University of Delhi, was allegedly attacked by a group of students from Delhi School of Journalism (DSJ) on 25th September 2018. This incident has triggered apparent hostility between two institutions that are housed in the same building of University Stadium. 

Around 4 p.m., after the Chhatra Sangarsh Rally held on the same day, a group of students from DSJ had come to the canteen.  According to Udit, an eyewitness and a student of CIC, the DSJ students hadn’t thrown the plastic plates and cups in the dustbin after eating. When Sanju bhaiya (canteen staff) asked them to, the students got aggressive and started abusing him. One of them then threw a napkin holder at Sanju, which barely missed his eye,” he added. This agitated the canteen worker, who jumped off from the counter and stepped towards the boys, following this a huge fight broke out. Later Sanju had to seek medical treatment at a hospital. 

Yashwant, another CIC student who was present at the spot added, “Everybody knows about the self-help rule of the canteen. We collect our order ourselves and dispose of the leftovers as well.  Sanju bhaiya merely pointed it to the assaulters who immediately got riled up. A teacher who intervened to break off the confrontation was also disrespected immensely. This is nothing but pure hooliganism which shouldn’t be tolerated.”

However, according to the students from DSJ it was the canteen employee who had provoked them. Prashant Yadav, a student of DSJ who was involved in the violence, explained his side of the story to DU Beat. “After the rally, we were all tired and having our food. The canteen employee started rebuking us for occupying space. We talked to him politely but he spoke in a very disrespectful tone. He said something, and in response we said something. We are not happy with the turn of events and whatever happened was unfortunate, but we aren’t Gandhi ji’s disciples. We also paid the amount, in fact, we paid more than what was due.” When asked about throwing a napkin holder at the canteen staff, he explained that the napkin holder “wasn’t thrown deliberately but got flung accidentally”. DU Beat also reached out to DSJ students on DSJ Media Group but didn’t receive any response.

“I feel betrayed and disrespected by the incident. We supported them in their fight for their rights. In fact, people from CIC were one of the first ones to lend support to their cause. It’s ironic that moments after joined them in the Chhatra Sangharsh Rally these people enter our own canteen and hurt our staff. We regret that we ever supported them. DSJ has lost a major ally and I hope they realise it soon,” asserted Shania Mohapatra, a second-year student of CIC.

“We hope DSJ gets its rights, but more than that we hope they get a sense of decency. It wasn’t just some random students from an institute misbehaving, people who were at the forefront of the protests indulged in misconduct (Prashant Yadav had participated in the hunger strike). Instead of holding their peers accountable, the rest of the “leaders” of #StandWithDSJ movement are acting as an apologist for them. We aren’t saying you monitor every action of your classmates, but if you can share our solidarity pictures on your social media then you can also issue a simple statement condemning the shameful act of your comrades. To pretend ignorance is nothing but disingenuous,” said another CIC student. 

The following day, a verbal fight* broke out between the students of Cluster Innovation Centre and Delhi School of Journalism in the canteen.  This happened in response to the action of some CIC students, who had torn off the #SaveDSJ posters from the notice board of the cafeteria in front of the DSJ students present there.  Right after this, first and second-year students of CIC held a meeting with the Program Coordinator of BA (Hons) Humanities and Social Sciences to express their concern regarding the safety and security of the students. After much discussions and deliberations, it was collectively decided that the students will write an application to the Director of Cluster Innovation Centre, Dr. H.P. Singh, highlighting their concerns and asking him to take action regarding the issue. One of their demands includes barring the entry of the students in CIC who had hit the canteen staff. A formal application has already been forwarded by the teachers. As of now Prasant Yadav, Shabab Anjum, and Vipul have been identified as the offenders (the names are based on more than two student accounts and one teacher account, who identified the students based on photos and videos). DU Beat will update the report once we get an on-record quote from Shabab Anjum and Vipul.

Update: In a conversation with DU Beat, Vipul, a student of DSJ who is accused by the eyewitnesses to have been engaged in the tiff that transpired, denied any involvement with the violence. He said, “I went to the CIC canteen, one and a half hour after the whole incident, to have tea because the DSJ pantry was closed. I pointedly deny engaging in any fight whatsoever. We spoke to a faculty member about the incident which is why people must have remembered seeing me, but I minded my own business. I’m here to study and have no interest in hurting any employee.”

In the late hours of the afternoon, CIC students alleged that the DSJ students vandalised the Cluster Innovation Centre board placed on the ground floor. 

board

 

Niharika Dabral

[email protected] 

Disclosure*: Disha Saxena, a DU Beat correspondent, and Shania Mohapatra, a marketing executive of DU Beat, were involved in the verbal spat that took place.

 

As Delhi School of Journalism (DSJ) completes a year of existence in the University of Delhi, the students protest against privatisation of education and demand appropriate infrastructure facilities and quality education. 

The students of Delhi School of Journalism organised a Chhatra Sangarsh Rally on 25th September 2018 in North Campus of the University. The rally comes three days after the students broke off the four-day long hunger strike after getting written assurance for the fulfilment of their promises. 

The rally was flagged off from the Faculty of Arts at 1:00 p.m. The rally was organised as a protest against privatisation of higher education. The students demanded a lower fee structure, funds from the University Grants Commission, basic facilities, media lab and ICT Centre, financial transparency, faculty on regular basis, and the right to dissent.

The rally covered seven colleges of North Campus namely- Shri Ram College of Commerce, Daulat Ram College, Kirori Mal College, Hindu College, St. Stephens College, and Ramjas College. Along with this the rally also covered Campus Law Centre and Faculty of Law. The protesting students appealed to the students of above mentioned colleges to join them in their struggle. The rally culminated at Delhi School of Journalism itself. 

Support for the movement came from various organisations and political parties. The members of National Students Union of India (NSUI) were amongst the first ones to show solidarity to the movement. Aakash Chaudhary of NSUI, also the Secretary of Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU), extended his solidarity to the students. He said, “I have visited DSJ before the protests. The condition there is very bad. The students are denied basic facilities like a proper canteen and library.” He assured that NSUI will support them in every way possible.   

Kawalpreet Kaur, President of Delhi University’s wing of All India Students Association (AISA), along with other AISA members also joined the movement. A number of students from organisations like Krantikari Yuva Sangathan, Pachaas, and Democratic Students’ Union also joined hands with the agitating students. Students from Bharti College and Jawaharlal Nehru University were also seen in huge numbers. The rally concluded in DSJ campus. Shakti Singh, Vice President of DUSU from Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarathi Parishad was also present in the campus.

Anoushka Sharma

[email protected]

Feature Image Credits: Neerav

 

After 4 days of hunger strike, protesting day and night, being denied entry in their own campus, and heated discussions with the administration, the students of Delhi School of Journalism called off the protest on 21st September 2018.

On 17th September 2018, violence broke out in the campus of Delhi School of Journalism after the talks with the officials of the University regarding the poor infrastructure facilities reached no conclusion.

The protest took a different turn when a second-year student, Ambuj Bhardwaj was arrested by the Delhi Police. He was dragged by his neck openly in the college premises and was brutally thrashed by them. On speaking to DU Beat, Ambuj said, “We were protesting peacefully near the gate of our college. When we tried to protest near the gate of the Vice Chancellor’s office, the security guards manhandled us, one of my friends was also slapped by the guards. The moment I tried to defend him, the police caught hold of me and thrashed me. I was taken into custody for six hours.” The police was called by the administration to curb the protest. However, the students complained of being manhandled by the police.

When the discussion with the administration of the college and officials of the University didn’t prove feasible, six second-students, namely Ambuj Bhardwaj, Mohammad Ali, Prashant Yadav, Roshan Kumar, Vipul Sharma and, Suman Shekhar went on an indefinite hunger strike. They were supported by both the students of the first and second year. The administration responded by issuing a warning to take disciplinary action against the students who were protesting in the campus. This was ineffective as the students continued their agitation. Continuous health checkups of the students on hunger strike were done by the WUS Health Centre. Vipul Sharma, one of the six students on hunger strike said, “We tried many different methods of protest in the last few months, but the administration did not bother. We could not reach a proper solution to the problem. At the same time, the students were facing huge academic loss. Therefore, we had to take such a radical step. The hunger strike was a pure Gandhian step.”

Hunger strike by DSJ students
The hunger strike by DSJ students

The students of first and second year also went to different colleges and departments and appealed to them to support and extend their solidarity with them in the cause. Support for the protesting DSJ students came from various students, organisations, political parties, leaders, and teacher associations. On 20th September 2018, Delhi University Teachers’ Association members including the President, Rajib Ray and Treasurer, Najma Rehmani visited the students and appealed to them to end their hunger strike. They spoke about the initial problems associated with implementation of the course and how DUTA was against privatisation of higher educational institution as it would lead to a violation of our democratic and socialist values encompassed in the Indian constitution. While addressing the dissenting students, Rajib Ray talked about the streak of fire the students have evoked in the education industry, which has transcended from the walls of Lutyens Delhi to the entire nation. He underscored how he and his friends used to perform hunger strikes back in their days and how we remind them of the zeal and energy the youth should possess. They extended support and also promised to be present in the rally being organised by the DSJ students on 25th September 2018 against the privatisation of education and high fees. Rajya Sabha MP, Manoj Jha also met the students and understood their grievances. Members of DUTA in their individual capacities extended their solidarity to the students. Abhishek Dutta, Congress leader, Professor Abha Dev Habib, Professor Ratan Lal, Professor Suraj Yadav, students from the Law Faculty, Sunny Chillar and Akshay Lakara and other members from NSUI, newly elected DUSU Vice President Shakti Singh, Kawalpreet Kaur and members of AISA , CYSS, ABVP, SFI, Disha Student Organisation also stood with the agitating students. The members of Academic Council and Executive Council of the University also appealed to the students to end their hunger strike. They also assured that the issue will be raised in their next meeting with full force and no one will be spared. One of the members of the Academic Council promised to make DSJ the best institute for studying journalism.

Support by members of DUTA and NSUI to the protesting students
Support by members of DUTA and NSUI to the protesting students

On 21st September 2018, conditions worsened as Roshan Kumar, one of the students on hunger strike was advised urgent medical help. Ms. Neeta Sehgal, Proctor of the University of Delhi visited the students to resolve the matter. After a series of discussions, the administration and the students settled the matter. Deadlines along with proper details were provided to the students failing which the students demanded the resignation of the administrative authorities- Dr. Manasvini Yogi, Officer on Special Duty and Professor J.P. Dubey, Honorary Director of Delhi School of Journalism.  The students called off the hunger strike at 8:00 p.m. in the campus in the presence of the college authorities and fellow students.

On speaking to DU Beat, Mohd Alishan Jaffri, a second-year student of DSJ said, “This is a moment to cheer, not for complete celebration. In all these eight months of protests, the students have fought remarkably with grace. DSJ is an isolated place in North Campus, where half of the colleges in North Campus don’t know about our existence. It’s an island of misery in a fortune called North Campus. We need the world to follow this example and ensure that academic discourses are conducted properly in every public institution. We hope that Delhi School of Journalism becomes the next Columbia School of Journalism. Through DU Beat, I would also like to invite all students, teachers, organisations to be a part of the rally being organized on 25th September.”

Students stood united
Students stood united

The students are organising a DSJ Chhatra Sangharsh Rally on Tuesday, 25th September 2018 at 1:00 p.m. in Arts Faculty.  Many organisations and students are expected to be present in the mass rally against privatisation of education.

 

Feature Images Credits: DSJ students

Anoushka Sharma
[email protected]