Vivekananda College issues a notice prohibiting students from participating in political rallies as Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) plans its independence day rally.
Vivekananda College of the University of Delhi(DU) bans its students from attending political rallies on a notice issued to the students on 14th August 2019. Signed by the Officiating Principal, Dr Hina Nandrajog, the notice reads, “All the students are advised not to attend any political rally or action will be taken against them.”
The notice came on the account of an Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) rally was organised in the college by the Vivekananda unit of the ABVP on the occasion of Independence day.
The ABVP unit of the college circulated a message regarding the Tiranga Rally yesterday where they would gather and chant slogans in the celebration of India’s freedom, the same as what was going to be conducted in several other DU colleges.
Then came the ban.
This wasn’t the first time the college had done so, though. According to Ms Shreya Sharma, the Vice President of the Vivekananda unit of the ABVP, the same had happened on Independence day last year too, where their tirangas had been snatched. In conversation with DU Beat, she elaborated,” Yatra nikalne se pehle unhone notice nikal diya to humne phir college ke gate pe hi aise yatra ki… hum college break me hi karne wale the. and us samey aisi classes bhi nahi hoti. ( They put out the notice before we could begin our rally so we had to make do with a rally at the college gate… we were going to do it in the break, when there arent any classes going on)
However, it seemed that all took a wrong turn because they didn’t have proper permits. Moreover, it was conducted during the classes. According to Ms. Priyanka, the President of the Vivekananda College Student Union, “Humari us time (during the rally) classes chalti hai. Aap ralley mein participate kar sakte ho, par usse pehle aapko permission leni padti hai. Aapne permission li nahi hai aur aap rally nikal rahe ho college mein. Unhone canteen mein halla machana shuru kar diya tha toh is vajah se principal ma’am ne ye notice nikala (we had classes in the period when the rally was being conducted. You can participate in a rally, but you need proper permission to do so. Without permission, how can you initiate rallies in the college. They started creating a ruckus in the canteen which is why the principal put out the notice).”
According to Mr. Siddharth Yadav, State Secretary for ABVP Delhi, the notice which was released just a day before the Independence day ironically signifies the college’s negative approach towards students and student activism. Emphasising on the rally held today not being a political rally, but a student rally by a student organisation, he opined,” (this notice) aisi baseless cheez hai, jisko koi rules support nahi karta. Jo ek basic part hai democracy ka, usko khatam karne wala move hai yeh jo administration walon ne aaj liya (it is a very baseless move which is not supported by any rules. The administration has taken a move which hampers a basic part of our democracy).”
In conversation with DU Beat, Mr. Yadav further added that the Vivekananda branch of the ABVP and other officials of that area would be giving a memorandum to the principal tomorrow, criticising this behaviour of the administration. “Anti student activism thought hai yeh. Administration ko thoda sa is cheez ko theek karna chahiye. Agar woh is memorandum pe vichaar nahi karte hai and aage bhi aisa karte hai to we will be compelled to protest against it. (this is an anti student activism thought. If they don’t consider this memorandum and continue their actions, we will be compelled to protest against it).”
Amidst accusations of being anti-student activism, despite DU Beat’s efforts, the principal’s office and the administrative staff were out of reach for comment.
Satviki Sanjay
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