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DUSU Elections 2017

Students from RLA, Rajdhani stand against the litter caused because of DUSU elections

By DU Beat August 31, 2017

With DUSU elections looming around the corner, students from various colleges of the University of Delhi have pledged to not vote for any party that partakes in the littering or vandalising of its college premises.
An unnamed notice at Ram Lal Anand College campus read, “We the voters of Ram Lal Anand College pledge to not vote for any candidate or a party whose supporters are found defacing or damaging the property of our college.” Similar notices from colleges like Kirori Mal College and Rajdhani College have begun doing the rounds in social media, and petitions which condemn wastage of paper are being signed. According to Vaibhav Bansal, a 3rd-year Political Science(H) student at Rajdhani College, “We are not planning on boycotting elections, we just demand a cleaner and violence-free campus. If a record of the campaigners could be maintained at the college gate and their number limited to 5, there won’t be as many problems. It’s our campus that is being defaced, not theirs.”
Akankshya Mohanty, a second-year Statistics(H) student at Ram Lal Anand College feels that the situation at her college is grim and severe. She said, “College just got renovated and many processes are underway as well. These campaigners are causing just too much destruction, with flyers and posters everywhere in and around the college.” She went on to describe her first-hand account of campaigners involved in a scuffle with the police at her college, and how quickly the fight turned violent.
A complete boycott is extremely far-fetched, but this new initiative to deter campaigners from defacing college property is gaining huge traction. Hopefully, more colleges will jump on the bandwagon and challenge authorities to take action against the wrongdoers.
Image Credits: RLA.in
Vijeata Balani
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DUB Speak

How important is party, caste and gender in DUSU elections?

By DU Beat August 30, 2017

Are there certain patterns that DUSU elections follow? How much of a role does ones caste, gender and socio-economic background play? With election season round the corner, we try to answer these questions.

Winning the students’ union elections in the University of Delhi is an immense feat. Major national political student parties like Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), National Students Union of India (NSUI), and All India Students Association (AISA) amongst others are the key players in the Delhi University Student’s Union (DUSU) elections. Along with muscle-power and extensive campaigning, a lot of strategy goes into the DUSU elections. Are people from a community, gender, or political party more likely to win this election? We try to answer these questions through an analysis of past election data.

1) The rise of ABVP -The last time NSUI won all four DUSU posts was in 2007, some ten years ago. In the last ten years, ABVP has won the DUSU elections seven times (the criterion being winning three or more seats). Out of these seven times, in 2009 the ABVP won one seat. Howsoever the President (independent) and Joint Secretary (Samajwadi Chattra Sabha) publicly credited ABVP for their victory. Only twice was NSUI able to win majority seats in the panel. In 2012, both ABVP and NSUI won two seats each. In the last ten years, Delhi University has seen six ABVP, one independent (credits ABVP) and three NSUI Presidents. This shift in voting patterns is unconventional since DUSU had a NSUI stronghold for a long time. From 1996 to 2008, NSUI maintained its position as the key player in DUSU politics, winning the majority of seats.

Nupur Sharma was the DUSU President in 2008. She won the Presidential seat for ABVP ending a long NSUI stronghold, surprising many. There has been no female DUSU President after her. Source: @nupursharmabjp on Twitter

2) Fall in the participation of women – Between 2011 and 2017, out of the twenty-four candidates that became a part of the DUSU panel, only five were women. The role of women in the last six years has been limited to the positions of General Secretary and Joint Secretary, with ABVP’s Priyanka Chhawri (Vice President) being the only exception. It would be strange perhaps to find out that women were not always relegated to the role of a token in DUSU politics. In fact between 2001 and 2010 women won twelve seats in DUSU overall with five of them being President and two being Vice President. Where there should have been an improvement in the position of women, there has been a decline. This fall in the number of female candidates winning and the lack of female DUSU Presidents is strange. In fact, while the awareness about gender-equality and feminism is greater than ever. While DUSU President of 2008, Nupur Sharma, believes this is because posters with faces were no more allowed; Ragini Nayak, DUSU President of 2005, believed it is so because the number of days of campaigning has been shortened to four or five days, and this kind of aggressive campaigning is easier for men to accomplish. (Source: Hindustan Times)

L-R: Priyanka Chhawri, Ankit Singh and Amit Tanvar after winning the 2016 DUSU elections. All four post holders in the 2016-17 DUSU union are from either the Jat or Gurjar community. Source: The Indian Express

3) The dominance of the Jat and Gurjar community – From 2011 to 2017, every DUSU President has been from either the Jat or the Gurjar community. The last four DUSU Presidents belonged to the Gujjar community while the two before them from the Gurjar community. In fact not just Presidents, but often the entire panel hails from these two communities. For instance, in 2016-17 all four post holders hailed from the Jat or Gurjar community. This dominance of certain communities in DUSU is recent but it clearly shows how major student parties are not shy of fielding candidates hailing from influential communities who have immense social capital at their disposal, in order to win.

4) Emerging alternatives to ABVP and NSUI – Parties like AISA and the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) have continuously been gaining relevance in DUSU politics. In the 2016 elections, on almost all posts, AISA candidates managed to secure the third highest vote share, thus securing its position as the third party in the DUSU political scene. It managed to secure a total of 30,000 seats. It also managed to secure an increase in its vote share for each post.

Feature Image Credits: The Indian Express

Kinjal Pandey

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Bazinga

BAZINGA: Student political parties can now distribute educational freebies

By DU Beat August 30, 2017

Following the Vice Chancellor’s historical decision, you can now expect student political parties to hand you out pens and notebooks in exchange of your vote.

In a press conference last week, the University of Delhi’s Vice Chancellor passed an order to student political parties that allows them distribute freebies legally on only one day, preceding the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections. This decision comes right before the polls that are set to be conducted on the 12th of September this year. When the VC, Satish Saraf, was approached to reason this historical decision, he said, “The DUSU elections happen in an arbitrary manner, as no political party follows the Lyngdoh Committee guidelines anyway. Through this reform, we plan to introduce transparency in the system.” This report, however, is incomplete without the numerous terms and conditions it clearly states that need to be followed as protocol to distribute freebies legally. A few of these conditions are:

Political parties can only distribute freebies on only one day, that day being at least one week prior to elections.
Political parties can distribute only education related freebies like pens, registers, books and other similar items that add to the welfare of students.
If the political party is found to be distributing alcohol or weed, its candidate would be prosecuted and disqualified to contest with immediate effect.
No printed posters can be put up. This is in accordance with orders given by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to conduct a poster-less and digital campaign.
A maximum cap of 10 lakhs would be set so that parties with lesser funds have no complaints.
To help students make an informed decision, all those parties that partake in distribution of freebies are expected to arrange for seminars and workshops, wherein they explain in detail the functioning of DUSU and delineate the actions they will take to achieve all points in their manifestos.

Two schools of thoughts have emerged from this landmark decision- one which strongly opposes this decision and one which stands in staunch support for it. A second year student of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College under condition of anonymity, said, “I think the DU VC has gone berserk. His decision places small, genuine parties to a major disadvantage and ensures that parties with large funding get abundant visibility.” However, not everybody harbours the same viewpoint. Avni Bansal, President of Sangharsh Yuva Parishad is of the view that this decision will transform elections for the better. In conversation with DU Beat, she said, “Everybody knows that use of muscle power cannot be removed from elections. But, this can definitely be put to good use for the welfare of students. Students belonging to lower economic backgrounds can benefit immensely from this opportunity”

While we already have protests from opposition parties against this decision, the executive council has been tabled to discuss reforms in DUSU budget as well. Most students consider this to be another spurious decision by the VC and have signed petitions that would be forwarded to the administration. Whether it will face a roll back like other significant reforms or undergo rigorous implementation, only time will tell.

Disclaimer: Bazinga is our weekly column of believable fake news. It is to be enjoyed, and not believed.

Image Credits: Days Of The Year

Vijeata Balani

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Uncategorized

Play Review: “Kathakaar”, a play by Prayogshala Theatre Group

By DU Beat August 29, 2017

The Prayogshala Theatre Group performed their first play Kathakaar in The Attic, Connaught Place. Their first project was a huge hit among the audience and garnered rave review. This play was a collaboration of alumnae and members of Natuve – Theatre society of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, Deshbandhu Dramatics Society, Memesis – Theatre society of Daulat Ram College, Manchtantra -Theatre society of SGGS and Anubhuti – Street–play society of JDMC.

The play Kathakaar presented the relationship between Kanhaiya and Rishi, and how they struggled with their respective homosexual identities. The character of Rishi struggles with his love for Kanhaiya and his homosexual identity. Kapil Sian as Rishi does an astounding job to bring out the perplexities of his character and leaves the audience wanting for more. The play quickly takes many interesting turns as the audience soon discover that Kanhaiya suffers from a split personality syndrome.The play manages to leave the audience intrigued in the backdrop of murder and dual personality of Kanhaiya. Akshat Chauhan pulls off the character of Kanhaiya or Krishna splendidly, and deserves appreciation for his portrayal.

The play is written and directed by Akshat Chauhan. The script is crisp and deals with the romantic homosexual relationship between Kanhaiya and Rishi quite delicately and maturely. Kathakaar; as an experimental and intimate theatrical play, does an exceptional job. The director utilised the performance space brilliantly and left no stone unturned in leaving a lasting impression on the minds of people.

There were only a handful people and both, the audience and the actors occupied the same space. A makeshift stage was set up and the ambiance was cosy, warm and relaxed. The dynamics between the audience and the actors was considerably different because of the form of the play. The audience was as involved as the actors in the performance.

Nimish Nanda, Anisha Baura, and Anshul Mahindru as supporting cast members revved up the energy up of the play with their exceptional acting and deep portrayal of their characters. The lights by Prashant Ved and sounds by Jyotish Dhanwani and Chavi Sagar left a mark.

Kathakaar tries to bring the issue of homosexuality to the forefront with the sensitiveness that it requires. The relationship dynamics between Kanhaiya and Rishi is explored wonderfully. The play was appreciate by the audience and had two successful shows one after another.

This effort definitely deserves praise as the chemistry between every member was palpable, and the dedication of every member to make this show a success could be seen in every scene of the play.

Feature Image credits:DU Beat

Anukriti Mishra

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News

Truth Behind ABVP Budget Image Made Viral by NSUI

By DU Beat August 28, 2017

Right before elections, a photo uploaded by the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) had started making rounds on the internet. The picture alleged the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) of spending Rs. 22 lakhs out of the assigned 26 lakhs for the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) budget on tea.

Soon, there was an outrage in the student community regarding the blatant misappropriation of expenses. NSUI officials claimed that Mr. Mohit Garid, the Joint Secretary of DUSU, provided the information as he has got access to all DUSU official records.

But when DU Beat reached out to ABVP, the other side of the story was unfolded. Mr. Amit Tanwar, president of DUSU, explained that the document making rounds is the budget of DUSU and not the expenditure. He further told DU Beat that many other events were conducted which didn’t fall in any of the other categories, hence, were included in miscellaneous sections.

Mr. Saket Bahugana, the national media convenor of ABVP, shared with us the original complete document, which clearly reflects the signature of Mr. Mohit Garid on the document.

img-20170822-wa0013 — Image Credits: DUSU office

Mr. Bahugana adds, “Why didn’t the Joint Secretary object to the budget while it was being proposed?” He also alleged that Mr. Garid had taken more than Rs. 5 lakhs from the DUSU fund but failed to utilise the money towards an event with the money.

Feature Image Credits: NSUI Twitter Handle

Sandeep Samal

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Arts & Culture

Explore These Enriching Places of Interest in Delhi

By DU Beat August 28, 2017

College life is filled with fun and learning, but if you are hungry for more and wish to see, experience, and delve into untouched topics, we are suggesting the places to go. These institutions can be visited at any time (in the day, of course) and you’ll find something interesting to check out.
INDIA INTERNATIONAL CENTRE

india-international-center — Image Credits: iicdelhi.nic.in

It was officially inaugurated in the year 1962 and built upon the arrival of Japanese prince Akihito in 1960. It is generally referred to as Triveni, meaning ‘a structure of three’. It serves the ‘Intellectual Stream’ by organising seminars, meetings, discussions, debates as well as harbours a library of renowned published papers. For the ‘Cultural Stream’, it organises dance performances, plays, and film screenings. It also boasts of hostel and catering facilities to bring people together and give rise to brain-storming sessions.

Address – 40, Lodhi Gardens, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi

SIRI FORT AUDITORIUM

It is a premier multi-auditorium complex of the Government of India. It is the headquarters of Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It hosts musical concerts, film screenings, documentary screenings, plays, debates, seminars, and more.

Address – A-25, Balbir Saxena Marg, Siri Institutional Area, Siri Fort Institutional Area, Gulmohar Park, New Delhi

GOETHE INSTITUTE – MAX MUELLER BHAVAN

Max Mueller Bhavan is best known for its German language course and the international examinations held at the institute. It fosters international cultural cooperation and boasts of a huge collection of books, DVDs, etc.

Address- No.3, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, Near Connaught Place, New Delhi

INDIA HABITAT CENTRE

The India Habitat Centre was built in 1993 as an office building shared by workers of HUDCO and some non-profit organisations. It is now spread across nine acres, designed by Joseph Stein and provides facilities like conference venues, auditoriums, hospitality areas, library, resource centre, and art galleries. Penguin Random House has collaborated with the Centre to host their Annual Penguin Lecture which witnesses a huge number of turnout.

Address – Lodhi Road, Near Air force Bal Bharati School, New Delhi

ALLIANCE FRANCAISE DE DELHI

It is an association of the Indian Law and the Alliance Francaise de Paris. It is known for its French language courses and providing various levels in it. It hosts premiers of French movies, plays and also international contest. The Cine Club of the organisation is about to host a movie screening of Des Fommes et Des Hommes (Women and Men) whose entry is free to all. The institute is also about to hold an International Photography Contest with three prizes worth more than 12.000€.

Address – 72, KK Birla Ln, Lodhi Gardens, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi

Feature Image Credits: Touristt Turtle

Prachi Mehra

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DUB Speak

Ascertaining the Danger of the Blue Whale Challenge

By DU Beat August 28, 2017

The Blue Whale Game, also known as Blue Whale Challenge, is a lethal internet ‘suicide game’ that exists in many countries. The players allegedly carry out a list of tasks that are handed to them by the administrators over a period of fifty days, with the final task asking them to commit suicide.

The term ‘Blue Whale’ originates from the phenomenon of ‘beaching’ in which cetaceans (aquatic mammals that consists of whales, dolphins, and porpoises) strand themselves on beach. Beached whales often die due to dehydration. In many cases, some healthy whales and dolphins have stranded themselves which raises the question of self-harm or suicide, though the exact cause is unknown.

The players are allegedly supposed to complete one task in a day. These tasks include self-mutilation and self-torture. For instance, the player is asked to wake up in the middle of the night and watch horror films or carve designs on the hand. The game originates from Russia, where it has resulted in 130 cases of suicide. Philip Budeikin, the inventor of the game, referred to the victims as “biological waste” who did not hold any value and would only cause harm to the society, and thus aimed at cleaning the society by pushing them to commit suicide. He was arrested and plead guilty to “inciting at least sixteen teenage girls to commit suicide”.

In India, a few cases have been reported that have been linked to this game. In July 2017, a boy from Kerala committed suicide after playing the game. Two other cases have been reported in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh resulting in action being taken by the authorities. The issue was raised in Rajya Sabha by BJP MP Amar Shankar Sable who asked for a provision to remove the game.

Aditi Pandey, a student of Lady Shri Ram College, says, “Such a detrimental phenomenon is much like getting into an offline bad company. It is essential to address the root causes of vulnerability of young adolescents and to fight against such harmful groups.” While Aishik Chakraborty from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, comments, “ It is like a cyber nightmare and the worst part is that it exists. A challenge like this can set disturbing images in the minds of the already vulnerable teenagers and the people around them too.”

Image credits: www.asiange.com
Anukriti Mishra

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DUSU Elections 2017

Ahead of DUSU Elections, ABVP Submits Memorandum to Election Officials, Forms Selection Committee

By DU Beat August 27, 2017

With the election fever catching up in the University, ABVP has also upped its efforts to reach out to students in the campus. In the recent developments, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad(ABVP) has submitted a memorandum to the Election Officials for the session 2017-18 to ensure a better election process. It has also formed a committee to select its candidates for the DUSU Elections 2017.

Submits memorandum to Election Officials for better Election Process

On August 26, 2017, a four member delegation of ABVP met the recently appointed DUSU-2017 Election Committee to raise some points of demands and give their suggestions for the smooth functioning of this year’s Delhi University’s Students’ Union (DUSU) polls.

Among various issues that the party highlighted, it requested for avoiding the ambiguity in the counting process of votes through proper numbered EVMs allotted to every college. They also asked the authorities to run an awareness campaign in order to increase the voting percentage and even asked for attendance benefit for the students who come to the college to vote on the election day.

They also took the issue of paper wastage with the authorities and demanded designated ‘Wall of Democracy’ in every college in order to reduce paper wastage.

Forms Committee to select official candidates

The party has constituted Committee to select the official candidates of ABVP for the polls. The committee comprises of Dr Avnish Mittal-State President of ABVP, Dr Manu Kataria-National Executive Council member, Monika Chaudhary-National Secretary, Bharat Khatana-State Secretary, Ajay Thakur-State Organizing Secretary, Abhishek Verma-State Joint Secretary and Amit Tanwar-the outgoing DUSU President.

The committee will select the candidates for the DUSU elections which is going to be held on September 12, said a press release which was issued Saket Bahuguna, the national media convener of ABVP.

Image Credits: ABVP

Oorja Tapan

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Aryabhatta College

Aryabhatta College to hold referendum for DUSU affiliation

By DU Beat August 27, 2017

In the light of the recent events pertaining to the upcoming elections of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU), contrary to the anticipated scenario, Aryabhatta College has given out a notice seeking a referendum regarding its affiliation to the DUSU that will be held on the 1^st of September, within the college premises.

While the college was affiliated to the DUSU in the past, the excessive political inclination of the latter and the consequent amalgamation of campus violence and suppression in the recent years have garnered a lot of attention, questioning affiliation of other member colleges as well. Since both the Principal as well as the administration remained unavailable for any comments, we had a word with Yashank Bhutani who is also one of the presidential candidates this year. He informed us that a joint protest is going to be held on Monday, that is, on the 28

Yashak Bhutani, one of the presidential candidate for this year informed that a joint protest is going to be held on Monday, that is, on the 28^th of August regarding whether or not the institution should be affiliated. Amidst all of this, a pro-DUSU affiliation signature campaign was doing the rounds on Thursday. The referendum, as explained by Yashank, proposed against the centralization of power that otherwise is the case with party-affiliated student politics, wherein, the six-post system including the President, the Vice-President, the Joint Secretary, the General Secretary and two Central Councillors are vested with the sceptre of power, leaving out the other students in a subordinate position. He further goes on to add that the alternative way would include a two-post system with only the President and the General Secretary at the highest rung, with a division of power among the Class Representatives (CRs) and the respective department Presidents who will be responsible for keeping the powers of the two heads under check or “the parliamentary form of elections”, as he calls them.

Meanwhile, the principal and other college authorities were unavailable for comments.

While it has become quite clear from certain examples in the recent past that the triumph of party-affiliated politics nurtures nothing but only the mouthpiece of a particular ideology; it is, like Yashank states, “the leadership in a free environment is what we look for with every student having a say in the decision-making”.

Shrija Ganguly

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News

AISA at loggerheads with ABVP

By DU Beat August 26, 2017

Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections are just around the corner and the anticipation is palpable even from quite a distance. With just a fortnight before its commencement, All India Students’ Association (AISA) has urged Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s intervention in subsuming the unwarranted and illegitimate practices of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliated Right Wing students’ political body Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

AISA has openly raised arguments about the alleged unethical behavior of ABVP goons and brought to light the ill temperament of right student wing delinquents in the university campus and particularly highlighted their near malevolent attitude towards Kawalpreet Kaur, AISA President, by calling her an “anti-national slut” and allegedly outraging her modesty.

“The ABVP has become the censor board in the campus and reserves the authority on what is allowed and what is not allowed…. The election cannot be free and fair as long as their violence continues,” Kawalpreet Kaur told the press of IANS live.

She has demanded the Delhi University’s administration to refrain from letting ABVP contest in the elections on account of their homicidal behavior during the incident in Ramjas College. She showed pictures of Ankit Basoya and Mahamedha Nagar, ABVP candidates, attacking protesters during the Ramjas incident. She also spoke about the fear that ABVP has entrenched in the campus with their blatant hooliganism.

They have drawn a very subtle parallel between Modi’s “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” campaign and ABVP’s alleged reputation for shamelessly using force on women and their supposed misogynistic treatment of the ilk. They have also suggested failure of Modi’s “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan” under ABVP’s election campaigning which unabashedly involved soiling the varsity spaces with party pamphlets.

Sanjay Bohidar, a DU professor expressed his agitation towards ABVP in general and the government in particular for letting unscrupulous elements like that of ABVP to prosper. He was of the opinion that an atmosphere where even the police is under dire pressure and ceases to deliver justice, is anti-education, not because of one ideology domineering over the others but because of consensus of a common view under the ambit of that ideology.

He also recalled former DUSU President, Satender Awana’s outright tongue lashing at St. Stephen’s teacher, Nandita Narain and Law Faculty Dean Ved Kumari and how despite the severity of the event, the lack of prosecution by either the police or the university administration.

A video which went viral on social media platforms last year, witnessed Satender Awana verbally tormenting Ved Kumari in the presence of police and general public.

Another teacher from Shri Ram College of Commerce was of the view that the university premises lacked basic freedom and that there was no exhibition of cultural activities by any organisation other than ABVP.

In the light of the Ramjas incident which took place in February this year, AISA members accused ABVP, the alleged conspirers for physical assault and repeated threats. Similar cases have also undergone police intervention and legal trial. A very recent example of the same is Kawalpreet Kaur’s alleged harassment by ABVP activists in Satyawati College, immediately after which she approached the police to file an FIR.

The varsity is no doubt a sight of uneasy and murky politics as the election season unfolds and sets to witness the polls on September 12.

Feature Image Credits: Hindustan Times

Lakshita Arora

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