ABVP, in its defense, claims that NSUI has done no work in the past year, and is therefore looking for ways to demean the party.
With Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections just a couple of days away, major party National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) alleged that rival Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) stole their election manifesto.
NSUI’s manifesto had the proposition of subsidized food for DU students, which promised a complete meal thali at the meagre amount of Rs. 10. The same was allegedly seen on ABVP’s manifesto.
Saimon Farooqi, National Media Secretary of NSUI, said that their national handle has some posters and their corresponding dates are given. He added that on checking ABVP’s posters, the same designs and points can be seen, but with a later date.
What is also a shared point between the two parties is ‘the Institute of Eminence’, wherein, if a university is chosen, added funds of Rs. 1000 crore are allocated to them. Had DU been given these funds, the current budget of Rs 1100 crore would almost be doubled and would amount to Rs. 75,000 extra spent per student. This would ensure better facilities for them. Both the manifestos claimed to make DU the next Institute of Eminence. NSUI also says that there have been reports of the Prime Minister’s Office’s (PMO’s) involvement in the decision.
According to NSUI, ABVP’s manifesto has given themselves credit for writing off GST on sanitary pads, but a change petition was run by Sushmita Dev, National President of Mahila Congress on which she got half a million signatures. The petition was handed over to Arun Jaitley, the Minister of Finance and was thereby written off.
“ABVP is following Copy-cat politics. They are copying NSUI, whether it is about the points in our manifesto or the design of our poster”, told Farooqi to a DU Beat correspondent.
Jyoti Chaudhary, Joint Secretary ABVP, said that the work for writing off GST on sanitary napkins was done by Mahameda Nagar. When asked about the thaali, she said that it was never included in ABVP manifesto because it is not possible to provide food on such low rates. ‘Only the manifesto of those who have actually done work is stolen,’ Chaudhary said. ‘What will we do with the manifesto of those who have done nothing in the past year?’
Besides these, the shared points include fee reduction, provision of hostels for all colleges in vacant lands around the campuses, Delhi metro and DTDC student passes, study room facilities, etc. However, it can also be argued, that issues like these are universal to the students of the Delhi University and not limited to one party.
The DUSU elections are underway. The influence of student parties is not only a matter of contention at the university level, but at the college level as well.
During the elections in Lakshmibai College for Women, the student wing of the college affiliated to the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) alleged the involvement of members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in violence that erupted in the college post the declaration of the election results.
“NSUI won unopposed on the post of President, Vice President, and Secretary.” said Sarah Iqbal, National Media Coordinator of NSUI and final year student of Lakshmibai College.
According to sources, the opposition student parties like Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Chatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS) etc, at Lakshmibai College could not file their nominations to content in the internal students’ union elections due to discrepancies in their nomination form, or being late in the filing of the nomination.
Members of CYSS claimed that this was their first time contesting in the internal college elections, which resulted in a misunderstanding of the deadline to file the nomination forms. While students belonging to the ABVP had issues with the specifications in theirs. Hence, the posts of President, Vice President, and Secretary were declared as unopposed winners, crediting their political affiliation to NSUI.
The other posts, namely, Cultural Secretary, and Central Counselor (CC) had multiple candidates in contestation from the ABVP and NSUI.
After the declaration of the final list of candidates for the Lakshmibai College Students’ Union elections, violence erupted in the campus. Onlookers claimed men allegedly claiming to be ABVP supporters tried to enter the college forcefully and misbehaved with the lady constables deployed at the college gates.
Karishma Thakur, an alumna of Lakshmibai College and National General Secretary of NSUI claims to have gotten injured in the violence allegedly instigated by ABVP outside the college campus. Himani Tokas, who emerged as the uncontested President of the Lakshmibai College students’ union also claimed to have been verbally abused outside the administrative offices block of the college by the opposition party members. NSUI members have filed an FIR against all those involved in violence, and have requested the Delhi Police for extra security outside the college, sighting the violence committed against innocent guards and constables posted outside the college.
DU Beat tried to contact officials from ABVP; however, they were not available for comment.
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.
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.
The NSUI made a public declaration of policy and aims, especially one issued before an election by a political party or candidate on the 27th of August. Here’s all you need about their goals and promises.
On Monday, 27th August 2018, The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) announced it’s manifesto with respect to the 2018 Delhi University Students’ Unions (DUSU) Elections. At the NSUI Office near Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi, a panel of NSUI student leaders stood before a room packed with journalists and photographers, as they announced their goals and promises for the upcoming year, should NSUI win.
Ruchi Gupta, Joint Secretary, NSUI began by stating the core principles of NSUI; progress, freedom, diversity and empowerment. She emphasized five primary objectives, namely –
Demand for Institute of Eminence status for University of Delhi.
Owing to the substandard global rankings of even the best Indian academic institutions, the government decided that three private and three public universities will be declared as Institutes of Eminence. These Institutions of Eminence would be given significant autonomy in operations — from setting their curriculum and recruiting foreign faculty to entering academic tie-ups. The selected government institutions would also be given up to ?1,000 crore over five years to help them become world-class. The ultimate objective is for these Institutions of Eminence to acquire global standing in a few years.
The NSUI raised objections over UGC’s rejection of DU as an institute of eminence, and even brought up the controversy of DU being Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alleged alma-mater. They emphasised of the controversy of Jio Institute being names as an Institute of Eminence, but the central government has already addressed it, saying Jio comes under the ‘greenfield’ category- the status will only be given on evaluation of performance after three years.
A campaign to identify 100 young women leaders in DU, to be mentored by former Chief Minister of Delhi, Ms Sheila Dixit.
The Pehli-Pidi programme focuses on first generation college students, under which 100 women will be identified and trained.This is an extension of NSUI’s vision to inculcate women into leadership roles, that they have previously worked upon by releasing a Women’s Manifesto ahead of Elections and by enabling the installment of Sanitary Pad Vending Machines in 32 DU Colleges.
Demand for subsidized Meal Thali for Rs. 10/- each.
They highlighted that over 70% of students are from economically weaker sections of society, and claimed that since IITs and IIMs provide subsidized food to their students, it would only be fair for DU students to expectthe same.
Concessional Student passes in Delhi Metro and DTC Buses.
Bringing light to the metro rail concessions available to students in Kolkata, the panel highlighted why a similar concession is important to DU students. Mentioning a well known incident where NSUI members jumped on metro tracks as protest, the members claimed that NSUI has been successful putting a break to metro fare hikes till 2020.
Demand for distribution of free laptops among DU students.
This demand has infamously been opposed by the CBCS in the past, and the panel was vague regarding the logistics of implementation and funding of this idea.
Fairoz Khan, National President NSUI took the floor to highlight NSUI’s achievements in the previous year. He talked about 24*7 library services for students brought about, installation of sanitary pad Vending Machines in 32 colleges and the launch of D-Youth, the first ever DU magazine, which was infamously interrupted by several ABVP members.
The panel claimed that the entry of CYSS into the 2018 elections was with the underlying agenda of dividing up anti-ABVP votes and bring down the gap in the ratio of votes. The panel also expressed grievances regarding the paucity of campaigning time available to them, which leads to confusion, uncertainty and mistrust among young voters. They also addressed the low voting turnout, and claimed the underlying reason for the same is mere 4 hours voting time provided to colleges with strengths of 3000+ students, a majority of which are first time EVM users.
Budget cuts, lack of transparency, poor infrastructure for differently-abled, discriminatory hostel timings for women, women’s safety and security were a few miscellaneous issues brought forward by the panel.
The modus operandi of NSUI for 2018-19 is fairly promising and inclusive of the welfare of all DU students. Feature Image Credits – Adithya Khanna for DU Beat
A senior leader of the ABVP and DUSU Secretary Mahamedhaa Nagar accuses DUSU Vice-President and member of the NSUI Kunal Sehrawat of stealing credit in what appears to be a tussle over the installation of sanitary napkin vending machines in DU colleges.
In a recent move by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and National Student’s Union of India(NSUI)-led Delhi University Student’s Union (DUSU), 56 colleges of the University of Delhi (DU) have received sanitary napkin vending machines. Each of these machines can store up to 25 napkins and can be accessed by the students.
The journey of installing these machines in all of these colleges began on the 22nd of January 2018 when Mahamedhaa Nagar, Secretary of DUSU, had organised a women’s marathon in association with the Sky Touch Foundation. The aim of the marathon was to question the tax imposed on sanitary napkins and the stigma surrounding menstruation. The marathon was flagged off by Akshay Kumar who was invited as the Chief Guest of the event. He was there to promote his movie ‘PadMan’ which spoke on the same issue. On the same day, Mahamedhaa had made the announcement of setting up sanitary napkin vending machines in all colleges affiliated to DU. Akshay Kumar and the two ABVP members occupying the DUSU had also launched 10 sanitary napkin vending machines on the same day.
Mahamedhaa wrote a letter to the Vice Chancellor of DU on the 15th of January 2018 regarding her announcement. He had welcomed the move and had also circulated the letter to all DU college Principals to take necessary steps.
Image Credits: Mahamedhaa Nagar, Secretary of DUSU
But, in a recent letter signed by the Assistant Registrar of DU, DUSU’s Vice President Kunal Sehrawat has also been given permission to set up sanitary napkin vending machines in the premises of WUS Health Centre and the Utility Centre, both of which are situated in the North Campus of DU.
Image Credits: Kunal Sehrawat, Vice President of DUSU
In a conversation with DU Beat, Sehrawat said, “As per the research and data procured, we have found that 60% of the total students across DU are females. Also, 15 colleges are solely for girls. In addition to that, we also have females including teachers and administration staff. Our main aim of launching and installing sanitary napkin vending machines are affordability, to eradicate social taboo associated with it, easy accessibility and spreading awareness among the youth.”
To resolve this confusion, DU Beat contacted Mahamedhaa Nagar. She informed the DU Beat correspondent that she had written a letter to the VC for the installation of the machines in DU colleges in January. The VC had replied back in March by welcoming the initiative. However, by then, she had already contacted the Principals of various DU colleges and installed the sanitary napkin vending machines in 20 to 25 colleges. Nagar also informed that they have offered a year’s free maintenance of the machines installed in the DU colleges. She mentioned, “Before starting the process of installation, I did a small survey. I approached the Principals of different colleges and asked what features they are looking for in a sanitary napkin vending machine. I found, for instance, that Hindu College already had a vending machine, but the problem was the quality of sanitary napkins the machine provided.” She had also sent out a proposal to the Ministry of Women and Child Development to help her with the setting up of machines. The CSR Research Foundation had helped Mahamedhaa in getting the sponsors for the sanitary napkin vending machines. By now she has installed such machines in 56 colleges and 8 schools.
When Kunal Sehrawat was asked to comment on the same, he said, “Who gets the credit really doesn’t matter to me. All that matters is that some work should happen for a noble cause. The students and the society should benefit from the same.”
NSUI alleges that their magazine launch, which was slotted to be held earlier today, was cancelled due to ABVP involvement.
A magazine launch event organised by the NSUI-led DUSU which was to be held in the University Conference Center on 31st July, 2018 was abruptly cancelled and the organizing students were barred from entering the University Campus. The National Student’s Union of India (NSUI) alleged the involvement of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in the cancellation and refused to budge, despite barricades being put in front of the Dean’s office by the police.
The event which was supposed to be attended by University of Delhi (DU) Professor of Hindi, Dr. Apoorvanand Jha, the founding Editor of The Wire, Siddharth Vardarajan and Member of Parliament (MP) Rajeev Gowda, was supposed to be on Freedom of Speech and Expression.
In a dramatic turn of events, the NSUI and the invited guests decided to launch the magazine in front of the police barricades under protest. The guests also delivered short speeches on the freedom of speech and expression while claiming that the spaces for creative freedom were increasingly lessening in the country.
Allegations of interference
Rishabh Gogoi for DU Beat
The event was initially supposed to launch the first ever student magazine of DU named DYouth. The magazine which featured various articles by students of DU as well on-record interviews given by people like P. Chindambaram, Subramaniam Swamy, Yogendra Yadav, Sheila Dixit, Prashant Bhushan, Sunita Narain and Karan Thapar among others, was edited by a team of editors from the colleges of DU.
Ruchi Gupta, the NSUI’s National-in-charge, while speaking to DU Beat, claimed that the NSUI had obtained prior permission to launch the magazine in the Conference Center. “This permission has been cancelled at the last minute at the behest of a complaint by ABVP goons who are only able to understand the language of guns. They bring guns inside DUSU office and NSUI will not be allowed to launch a magazine.” she added. Ms. Gupta and several other members of the NSUI publicly condemned the cancellation after the magazine was launched under protest in front of the Dean’s office.
DU Beat spoke to several sources in the organising team of the event and they all alleged that the ABVP was putting pressure on the administration to cancel the event at the last moment. However, another source on the condition of anonymity, said that things were “too quiet for the ABVP to be involved.”
AISA’s Kawalpreet Kaur, who was also present, extended support to the NSUI in a public speech claiming that she was upset as a student of the University because of the condition of politics in the campus. “We remember last year when there was a programme held by RSS here in the presence of Subramaniam Swamy and the ABVP waved saffron flags here inside the campus, indulging in hooliganism. We didn’t throw stones at them at that time. Neither did we cancel that programme. We agreed that there should be dialogue within this University. We still remember the episode at Ramjas college where the teachers were brutally attacked by the ABVP. And today, at the eleventh hour, the launch of a magazine by NSUI, which should be a cause for celebration for every student, has been cancelled and bizarre arguments have been put forward in support,” Ms. Kaur added.
Perturbed dignitaries
Rishabh Gogoi for DU Beat
The three dignitaries invited strongly criticised the sudden cancellation of the event. Mr. Vardarajan, speaking to DU Beat said, “I think it is very unfortunate that the DU administration did not allow this programme to happen. The irony is that we were going to discuss freedom of expression. And our own freedom of expression has been compromised in this way.”
When asked what he thought about the allegations of ABVP’s involvement in the same, he added, “I don’t know the facts because I am not from here. But the ABVP across the country has been well known to object to all acts of democratic expression that they don’t agree with. I was myself a victim of ABVP intolerance at Allahabad University when they wouldn’t let me speak. So if this has happened in Delhi University, it’s quite believable.”
DU Beat also asked Mr. Jha about the allegations of ABVP meddling in the cancellation of the event. While Mr. Jha denied knowing why the event was cancelled, he also added, “I can say from my experience that University spaces are being made inaccessible to people for open discussion and that is, in a way, dismantling this University. A simple release function is now being forced to be seen as protest, which is very telling.”
Rajeev Gowda, a professor of IIM-Banglore, claimed that the clamp down on NSUI’s launch was a symptom of events across the country. He attacked the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government for all the instances under them where freedom of expression has been threatened claiming, “In a few miles away from where Prime Minister Modi rules the country, you are able to see that freedom of expression has no meaning but there are still people willing to stand up and fight for the fundamental right that we have enshrined in the Constitution.”
The other side of the story
Rishabh Gogoi for DU Beat
DU Beat spoke with several policemen on the scene who were all unwilling to answer our questions. They directed us towards the people in charge, including the Deputy Proctor, Dr. Anupam Jha. On speaking to DU Beat, Dr. Jha claimed that the NSUI was misleading the people and that proper permission for the event had not been taken. “We are just abiding by the High Court’s orders which have upheld the decision to disqualify Rocky Tuseed’s candidature as DUSU President,” he added. Mr. Tuseed’s candidature had been revoked by the Delhi High Court previously due to his inability to release the details of the disciplinary action taken against him during his undergraduate study.
In an attempt to know more, DU Beat also contacted Mahamedha Nagar, the secretary of DUSU, who denied allegations of ABVP’s interference. “Why should we allow a magazine which has been just spearheaded by a Vice-President or a Joint Secretary, under the banner of DUSU? Was the money that was used for the magazine, in the name of DUSU, only the right of a President, and that too, a President who is no more a President? There is nothing about DUSU in the magazine. No suggestions were taken. I don’t think it makes sense to launch such a magazine under any venue of DU.”
While both NSUI and AISA have issued several official statements condemning the ABVP for their alleged involvement, it remains to be seen where the discussion on freedom of speech and expression takes us.
The state of infrastructure at the year-old Delhi School of Journalism (DSJ) has been a cause of concern for the students studying there.
In response, Mohammad Ali, State Media Coordinator of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) and a student of DSJ has come out with a press release describing the worsening condition of the facilities in the institute. The press release describes the low library capacity of 10-15 students, the lack of access to sports grounds by the sports quota students, as well as the administration’s bid to take away the laptops given to students. The press release mentions that these, among others, seem to be grounds enough for not starting an M.Phil and Ph.D. the programme at the institute.
The Delhi School of Journalism (DSJ) which was started last year, came up with a recent announcement to start MPhil and Ph.D. level courses by 2020. Currently, the college offers a five-year integrated journalism course that is entrance-based. It also offers an exit option for students who wish to pursue professional work after three years whereupon they would be given a Bachelor’s Degree. According to a recent report at The Asian Age, the college also plans to introduce short-term courses in photography, video editing, documentary filmmaking, sports, and science journalism by October this year. But, the press release by the NSUI is bound to put a question to such grand-laid plans.
When DU Beat asked Mohammad Ali if the students have ever conveyed their grievances to the administration he said, “We have had a lot of talks with the administration. We even submitted our complaints to the Director in writing, but it has been three to four months and we have seen no change. All we hear are false promises of the fulfillment of our demands.”
According to an anonymous source at the DSJ, the students who were given laptops at the beginning of the first semester for their journalistic assignments were asked to return the laptops at the end of their second semester. “They refused to even issue admit cards to us if we didn’t return the laptops. Not every student can afford to own a laptop and even less so when there are no computer facilities at the institute. In such a scenario, I don’t know how they will manage to open M. Phil and Ph.D. courses,” the source said.
Prashant Yadav, another student of DSJ said, “The press release points correctly to our problems. In the name of self-financing, we have been asked to give fees for everything from desks to chairs. The media lab that is going to be essential for our future curriculum has still not been set up. We do not have any permanent faculty and even those who teach us are not qualified enough to do so. While the campus gets closed at 4:30 pm for us, the students at Cluster Innovation Centre can access it till 7 p.m. As far as the laptops are concerned, I think the DU might reissue the laptops for us in the third semester. However, it is true that we were given no prior intimation before they gave us our laptops.”
Manaswini Yogi, the Officer on Special Duty at DSJ remained unavailable for any comments. However, the last time DU Beat spoke to Prof. Yogi she assured the DU Beat correspondent that the Media Lab will be established by the time curriculum reaches the point where the use of Media Lab becomes necessary. Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Sara Sohail [email protected]
A former worker of the Indian National Congress’ student wing purportedly sent a letter to the media containing WhatsApp conversations between Fairoz Khan and others. Sexual harassment charges have been levied against the National President of NSUI, (National Students’ Union of India). Khan has categorically rejected all the charges labeling them as ‘politically motivated’ and ‘baseless’.
The woman, who is an office bearer and former probationary national office bearer from Chhattisgarh, has alleged that NSUI President Fairoz Khan has been sexually harassing young women in lieu of political appointments. The allegations came to light late Sunday night after rumoured WhatsApp conversations between another woman and Fairoz, were released to the media.
NSUI has taken suo motu cognizance of sexual harassment allegations made against its National President Fairoz Khan.
Through a telephonic conversation, Ruchi Gupta, National In charge of NSUI informed DU Beat that they haven’t received any formal complaint from the girl yet. “NSUI has set up a AICC committee to investigate the matter. Deepender Hooda is a part of the investigating committee.”
“The NSUI and Rahul Gandhi should take cognizance of this serious allegation but Fairoz is openly attending NSUI meetings,” told Saket Bahugana, the National Media Convener of ABVP to DU Beat.
Kawalpreet Kaur, DU AISA head, reckoned that the matter is absolutely shameful and the inquiry can’t be fair unless the accused is not suspended from his post.
The report will be subsequently updated with the further flow of information on the matter.
The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) has announced the launch of a fellowship on public policy, the “Future of India”, which would start in June.
A press statement dated 2nd of May 2018, by current in-charge of NSUI, Ruchi Gupta, who is also the Joint Secretary of the All India Congress Committee, announced the launch of this new initiative by NSUI. The fellowship is open to all students and young professionals under the age of 30, the statement said.
When asked about the manifestations of this four-week fellowship, Ruchi Gupta said, “The fellows will get an opportunity to interact with thinkers and practitioners such as P. Chidambaram, Salman Khurshid, Sam Pitroda, Jairam Ramesh, Shashi Tharoor, Sachin Pilot among others.”
The DU Beat correspondent was informed by the members of the NSUI that the applications for the course would be open from 1st May 2018, and shortlisted candidates will be informed before 31st May 2018. The course is scheduled to be held from 11th June to 6th July 2018, in Delhi. They told DU Beat that interested students can apply for the fellowship through the official website of the NSUI.
According to the sources, some of the topics to be covered during the fellowship include public administration and management, bridging the “Bharat vs. India” divide, the legal system, the role of the state (in ensuring equality), the fundamentals of democratic countries, conflict management in a democracy, electoral management, and power politics.”
The fellowship is aimed towards providing the youth not just an overview of the key policy challenges facing our country but also the tools to deconstruct, analyse and understand the politics behind the policies.
The fellowship, whose course will combine theory with field visits and practical assignments, will focus on developing an understanding of the political considerations and the implications of different policy choices to build a new generation of liberal and democratic young leaders across India.
