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Young India Unites Against CAA

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On 20th January, 2020, Young India Coordination Committee called for Rally from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar, against Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA)-National Register of Citizens (NRC)-National Population Register (NPR), two days prior to Supreme Court’s hearing on the issue, along with All India Students’ Association (AISA), Krantikari Yuva Sangathan ( KYS ), Students’ Federation of India ( SFI ), All India Students’ Federation (AISF ) among others from Universties all over Delhi. 

20th January, 2020, observed a mass rally of students marching from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar at 1 p.m. against CAA-NRC-NPR. The rally was called for by Young India Coordination Committee along with multiple student organizations like AISA, KYS, SFI, AISF, Jawaharlal Nehru University Student’s Union (JNUSU), JCC, Joint Forum for Academic and Social Justice, Karwan-e-Mohabbat, Shaheen Bagh Protest Committee (United Youth Brigade), We the People among others.

Harsh Mandar, prominent Social Activist, said, “We are fighting against hatred with our love and Constitution. The Young India is showing us the hope and we will take back our India.”

Hundreds of students belonging to different universities like University of Delhi (DU), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) and other student organizations joined together to raise slogans of Azadi against the undemocratic and unsecular rule of the Government and against CAA-NRC-NPR.

They chanted slogans of “Inquilab Zindabad” (long live the revolution), “BJP hoshiyaar” (stay alert BJP), “Secularism Up-Up, Communalism Down-Down”, and sang popular songs improvised to create tunes of resistance. 

N Sai Balaji, National President, AISA, said, “Young India is one such powerful platform which not only unites all students and youth but today has shown that they won’t get divided by hate. But have unitedly launched a campaign to defend citizenship and defend the Constitution.” 

These protests are being held simultaneously in cities like  Mallapuram, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Patna, Kolkata, Allahabad, Varanasi, and many others against CAA-NRC-NPR.

“Just after two days the Supreme Court is going to hear the petitions challenging CAA so by this rally and across the country we are trying to give this message that this march means a public declaration, that this public is not in support of CAA, specifically the students, the young people of this country. We are against this CAA. We are born in a secular and country and will not let them (the Government) destroy the secular fabric of this country. India cannot accept secularism on religious lines,” quoted Kawalpreet Kaur, Delhi President, AISA.

The rally was followed by talks addressed by prominent speakers such as Harsh Mander, Umar Khalid, Gauhar Raza and Professor Ratan Lal among others at Jantar Mantar.

Umar Khalid, popular youth Social Activist and former student of Jawaharlal Nehru University, told DU Beat, “Young India today wants jobs and education. It does not want divisive laws like CAA or NRC or NPR. When we demand education, what does the government tell us? That spending on education is a waste of taxpayer’s money. But our money is not gonna be spent on putting us through an exercise in which we will be forced to prove our citizenships. They are using our money to strip us of our rights and we cannot allow that to happen. The government does not have that right. The government is here to serve us, not lord over us. Citizens also have rights. We are demanding those rights-  right to education, right to employment, right to healthcare.”

Dipankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary Communist Party of Indi (ML), suggested that the country is fighting it’s second freedom struggle.

“This law has been brought to divide people based on their religion and if we allow them to do this, tomorrow it will lead to caste discrimination.” he further added.

Feature Image Credits: Gyanarjun Saroj for DU Beat

Aditi Gutgutia

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Auburn Umbrella

Dapper Winter Wardrobe Essentials For Men

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Winter is a wonderful time of the year, though nippy. So, as the temperature falls, rather than bracing yourselves and turning into abominable snowmen burying yourself into deep and large bulky coats, style-less scarves and large gloves, its time you hone your vogue sense, but at the same ensure you don’t freeze yourself.

So here are some trendy and spruce must-have outfits which will literally help you kill two birds with one stone by keeping you warm in the chilly weather and at the same time enable you to keep your personal vogue up!

1) Leather Jacket-

A Leather Jacket is the most stylish, multifaceted, flexible clothing that every college going dude must possess! A leather jacket goes well with any and everything. It can be worn over a hoodie or with a T-shirt to give that casual and sleek look. Further, Leather Jackets are timeless since they can be worn for years if taken proper care of!

2) A Pair Of Dark- Wash Jeans-

Although plain, a pair of dark jeans are a staple without which no closet is complete! Jack up your outfit with a leather jacket, scarf, and boots or embellish it with a suit jacket. 

3) Woolen Overcoat-

A woolen overcoat is the perfect formal and dapper winter outfit that one can sport to look stylish and feel snug at the same time! Overcoats are available in a diverse range of colors ranging from navy to charcoal, etc and are sure to make you look bold and well- dressed.

4) Crew Neck Sweaters and Cardigans-

A crew neck sweater is essentially winter’s shirt. It has a smart appearance on its own, but can also be paired with a suit and pants or with jeans. The make of a crew neck is penny-plain and hence it would go well with a print or a bright color.

Cardigans, on the other hand, are a bit old- school and the latest ones maintain the classic look but with a modern edge. Style is something that one can modify with subtle additions and hence a cardigan can be kept modern by layering it with trendy tees or a mock neck shirt.

5) Flannel Shirt-

A flannel shirt is a perfect option for a casual and layered look. A wardrobe essential it compliments a legion of outfits! This goes well with a T-shirt and jeans for a relaxed look, or can be flaunted with a roll neck with a pair of chinos to enhance the vogue!

Featured Image Credits: Vaibhav Tekchandani for DU Beat

Abhinandan Kaul
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Arts & Culture

Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite and The Class Divide

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Though Bong Joon-Ho’s Korean cinematic masterpiece may have broken the glass ceiling of the Oscars with its nominations, it becomes important for another reason too- its acknowledgment of the class divide in the Asian community, and the reality of the rich and successful. 

Note: Spoilers below. Proceed with caution.

Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite is making headlines with its numerous nominations at the Oscars, with the buzz of it becoming the first non-English language film to win the best picture. It’s perhaps hilariously ironic that Parasite is breaking the glass ceiling of the ‘White Academy Awards’ because it so beautifully weaves together a cinematic of just not ever breaking the glass ceiling of the wealth divide and the idea of an upstairs-downstairs life. 

Perhaps an upstairs-downstairs life is what Parasite showcases the best- the very existence of the ‘semi-basement’ in which the Kims live in suggests a feeling of denial that the poor man often feels; “it’s a semi-basement after all, and not a basement” as though the house exists in state of middle, being under the ground but not believing that it is. It reflects a feeling that everyone who is trying to make it big but doesn’t have the means to has: hope. 

The story opens with the Kim family hunting for WiFi while they fold pizza boxes, and letting the street fumigation disinfect their house from pests. None of them is employed, until the son, Kiwoo, bags a job at the Park residence tutoring their daughter. The Parks are the opposite of the Kim family- where the Kims live in a semi-basement apartment, the Parks have a huge, two-storey house with a garden. Their house represents what they are- over the ground, rich and successful- just like the Kims’ house represents what they are. The film proceeds with a montage of the Kim family taking over the Parks- Ki-Jung, the Kims’ daughter, becomes an art therapist to the Parks’ son, Chung-sook, the mother, becomes the housekeeper after they get rid of the Parks’ precious employee, and the father, Ki-Taek, becomes the Parks’ driver. It becomes a strange tug of war to feel bad for the Parks as the movie proceeds because the actions of the Kims are just that relatable, the Parks’ are just that ridiculously rich, and it is here that the question arises- what is a poor man exploiting a rich man exploiting a poor man? 

 

Later in the movie, it is revealed that the Parks’ home has a secret basement, and the Parks’ precious housekeeper, Mun-Kwang had been keeping her husband there secretly. It is here in the scene where Mun-Kwang begs the Kim mother to let her husband stay there and to help them out because they’re their “neighbours in need”, where you see the denial of the Kims at accepting that they’re the same as Mun-Kwang and her husband. Both the families are leeching off the Parks, and yet in two different ways. 

And yet still, this leeching is something that we’re sympathetic with because, throughout the entirety of the movie, we have seen Parks and their contribution to the class divide. It is in the way that Mr. Park thinks the Kim father smells- stinks– a certain way, the way all working-class people who take the subway smell. This distaste of Mr. Park is pointed out in various scenes with he acts towards the Kim father, and after he tells his wife of this ‘smell’, she also plugs her nose at him. This divide is seen in the way the two families interpreted the rains in the city- what devastated the Kims apartment and brought them and hundreds of other poor people out into the streets were showers to clear the sky for the Parks. Mr. Park doesn’t even let Mr. Kim feel upset about the devastating loss of all his belongings- to him, Mr. Kim should revel in the finery and celebrations of his son’s birthday, simply because he’s being paid. 

The party scene of the movie is important for very many reasons. The first is the death of Ki-Jung, Kim’s daughter who gets stabbed by Mun-Kwang’s husband. While she’s stabbed, the Parks’ young son gets traumatised and has a seizure, and all of the Parks’ friends run away. They all have big cars, and yet Mr. Park demands only Mr. Kim, whose daughter is bleeding to death in his arms, to give up the car keys and drive his son to the hospital. One may argue that it’s because he simply does not know that Ki-Jung is Mr. Kim’s daughter. But one has to wonder why it is the servant who gets the responsibility of driving the Parks during the emergency while their friends run away and another person lays dying in front of them. This scene is important also because of Mr. Park’s reaction to Mun-Kwang’s dead husband; while Mr. Park’s son is in pain due to his seizures and two people dead in front of him, his only concern while fishing out the key from under the dead body is the layman’s ‘smell’, which is perhaps why we’re not as horrified to see him die later. 

The penultimate shot of Parasite after Ki-woo vows to make enough money to buy the Park mansion and free his dad who is hiding in the secret basement is of Ki-woo hugging his father, as they stand in the garden, perhaps a symbolism of them finally being above ground, rich and successful. But then the movie ends with the camera panning down to the semi-basement where Ki-woo is still writing the letter. This ending is symbolic- everyone knows what the reality is. What Ki-woo wants will never happen, and it is in the end that we realise the real parasite was never the poor leeching off of the rich.

It was the hope leeching off of the poor. 

Featured Image Credits: IMDb

Shreya Juyal
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Campus Central

I Am Offended: Sail Through the Censorship Debate

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Both, Censorship and the Freedom of Speech require a delicate balance and immense intuitiveness. Many have argued on both sides, This piece aims to highlight what ideas stand out in this debate? 

Censorship refers to moderating the information and ideas that are disseminated in the society. After entering the web of the censorship debate, there is no escape. This fascinating, unsolvable mystery has questions that lead to more questions, gently treading the path between morality and legality. Everyone’s subjective notions of what is moral, acceptable, decent, and inoffensive are at interplay.

Now a question that would make Mr Pahlaj Nihalanijump onto his toes: Is censorship a good thing?

An infamous opinion piece, in the New York Times, ‘Free Speech Is Killing Us’, addressed the issue of noxious speech. Rebutting the idea of the Internet as a beacon of progress, it reminded the readers of the social media driven campaigns of Trumpand Duterte, the murder of Heather Heyer, the massacres in Pittsburg and Christchurch. “But what about speech that’s designed to drive a woman out of her workplace or to bully a teenage into suicide or to drive a democracy towards totalitarianism?” writer, Andrew Marantz, probed his readers.

Moving away from this, on another end of this spectrum there are moral policing and unnecessary restrictions being imposed. Banning of films representing the LGBTQ community, deletion of Twitters posts talking about casteism, unnecessary edits on several films by the former Chief of Sankar Board and being tagged as ‘anti-national’ for expressing dissent.

What such pieces necessitate are a need to draw lines around some content on the internet. But how easy is this task? Youtube’s ban on violent content resulted in reportage of the Syrian war being take down, Twitter’s rules about sexual content led to information on sexual health also being removed. Regulations can, therefore, close doors on several avenues to spread awareness.

A move criticised for its timing right before the General Elections, stricter social media regulations were put in place. The authorities claimed this was done to curb misinformation. This would require content deemed as “unlawful” by government will have to be erased from Facebook, Google, TikTokand other platforms. WhatsAppwill be required to decrypt encrypted data, to trace it to its original sender. Netflix, Hotstarand seven other platforms have begun self-regulation in attempts to avoid censorship. This played in favour of, our favourite mota bhai, Mr Mukesh Ambani, for obvious reasons.

Stringent censorship can be found in countries like China, Saudi Arabia and Russia. With more than 150 days of internet shutdown in Kashmir, how long before we enter the list?

Journalism, as an independent and impartial body, is not meant to serve the establishment. Its duty is to question, educate and be the voice of people. It was not birthed to be controlled. A democracy seizes to exist when its journalists, activists and reporters begin to live in fear. The ABP row and stepping down of two leading journalists demonstrated the heights of control over the press. The gruesome violence at the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo was also a dark day in the history of the press.

Free speech is an inextricable part and the cornerstone of a democracy. Dissent cannot be suppressed under the garb of censorship, because with changing times, the youth refuses to settle and rather demands what’s better. The New York Times piece warns against absolutism and how it cannot be used as an opt out from harassment. It is a right to be exercised with full responsibility. Use of force cannot be a medium to extinguish protests and silence voices of people.

Going back to the dilemma we started with, one’s morality emerges from their upbringing, culture, values, and education. The same rules cannot hold true for all, which makes censorship an endless debate. While morality is where we use our discretion, the higher authorities have the onus of the legalities of it.

Feature Image Credits: Debate.Org

Shivani Dadhwal

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DUB Speak

Editorial: Fighting the Thought Police: Social Media and Dissent

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These are powerful times. These are politically volatile times. These are disappointing times. These are resisting times. Most important of all, these are questioning and questionable times.

With the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) being protested against vehemently in the North-East and across the rest of the country, including the popular hubs of politics and entertainment – Delhi and Mumbai – respectively, the citizens of the country are awakening to the anti-people policies of the current administration, including (but not limited to) the controversial abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir, the policies to privatize education, the Trans Person’s Bill, and the continual curbing of dissent by arresting protesting activists. As I write this, the Farmers’ Leader, Akhil Gogoi, is being charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act – a move that has invited widespread criticism for its arbitrary and oppressive nature.

In a backdrop such as this, it is impossible to go about one’s life – especially as students who study Foucault, Orwell, Ambedkar, and Marx in the classrooms of one of the premier universities of the country – without being the least bit affected with the socio-political climate of the country. The slogan, “Personal is political” manifests itself  powerfully before us, now more than ever, since the majority of us who are on any social networking platforms like Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, among many others, cannot possibly scroll through the feeds nonchalantly, without coming across stories, posts, or articles on the current climate. What, then, becomes of social media activism?

I confess that I myself, in the past, have sneered at ‘social media influencers’ and the like, believing that the social and cultural capital enjoyed by them, by virtue of their popularity, was taking up unfair space in the powerful discourse of ground-level activism. However, the past few months have altered this perspective drastically, because social media has now seemingly emerged as the preferred space of discourse for many, includingsystematically disenfranchised communities like trans-people, women, and people from conservative households. When paramilitary troops and police forces are employed in the ratio of three is to one, at organised protests in India Gate, Jantar Mantar, and brutalise the students of Jamia (JMI), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), among other locations, then being on-ground becomes a life and death battle for many from the aforementioned communities.

Social media, then, serves as the forum to express dissent, become informed, and share awareness. This is not to say that the women at Shaheen Bagh, sitting in the chilling winter of Delhi for about a month now, are not palpable to a violent crackdown, or that the resistance that has engulfed Kashmir for multiple decades is on equal footing with sharing a tweet, but it is to acknowledge the newfound power that is threatening the authorities in control. Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) IT cell has been notoriously in the news for circulating numbers, advertising that calling said numbers would get the people “free subscription to Netflix” or rendezvous with porn-stars. Doctored photos of students holding placards like “Hinduo ki kabrkhudegi” instead of the original “Hindutva ki kabra khudegi,” were instantly circulated in social media pages, attempting to polarize communal sentiments against students at JMI and AMU. In no time after actress Deepika Padukone stood behind JNU Students’ Union President, Aishe Ghosh, and activist Kanahiya Kumar, that the hashtag “BoycottChhapak” was trending on social media and sexually profanity being hurled at her. Internet lockdown in Kashmir has continued for over 150 days now, while internet services in numerous states like Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Assam, and Gujarat were blocked. Instances like this are testimony to the fact that any platform of public dissent, especially a technologically savvy one like social media that people from older generations in the administration are largely unable to grasp or master, acts to counter the narrative of normalcy our Prime Minister has been propagating with his famous line – “Sab changa si!” A single tweet on the everyday violence in the country is indeed momentous enough to throttle this false narrative.

While the criticism against social media has always been the legitimacy of the sources and the accountability of any debates/discussions over it, private citizens like Mitali Bhasin, Sukhnidh Kaur, Pravan Sawhney, Divya Kandukuri, are some of the few names who have set precedent for researching their own resources for news and compiling information for public use in these tumultuous times. Pages like With Kashmir, and media houses like The Wire, The Print, Quint have proven to be reliable sources of information and discourses, publicized and accessible through social media platforms.

The language barrier parting English, Hindi, and other regional languages in India has always been a drawback for left liberal discourse in India, and the dearth of similar resources / activism in languages apart from English, including in Hindi, remains a blind-spot that needs correction in an era where the voting public, from Savarna households, including in our family WhatsApp groups is unaware of the manipulation and propaganda being targeted towards them, because of language or technological gaps that disengage their participation in social media activism. However, as millennials and post-millennials, it is our prerogative to engage in sharing the information that reaches us, creating the much-needed space for dissent amid the hoardings of propaganda.

Most important of all, it is time that to take heed of all the tools at our disposal in fighting violence sponsored by the State. It is time to change those display pictures to red, to make highlights on Instagram with curated information, to tweet and flood the judiciary, the Police, and the ministries, because when we fight fascism in Orwellian times like these, it becomes poignant to break free, in any and all ways possible, from what 1984 labelled the Thought Police.

Anushree Joshi

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Campus Central

Amidst Rain and Shiver, Rode out Mass Awareness Programme

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Despite intermittent rain and drizzle, student fraternity stood rock solid to give momentum to mass awareness programme regarding the much talked about dubitable act.

On Thursday, 16 January 2020, resistance against the contentious laws of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC), and National Population Register (NPR) was conducted by ‘Gandhi Calling Organization’ in association with Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), Jawahar Lal Nehru University (JNU), and National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), at Arts Faculty, North Campus, University of Delhi (DU).

The mass movement witnessed some key figures such as social activist Medha Patkar, Tushar Gandhi, lawyer Karuna Nundy, Justice Kolse Patil, and Journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani among others. The president of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU), Aishi Ghosh was also expected but she didn’t make it to the programme. 

A nukkad natak by the hausala group of school going students kick-started the event with the central message of ‘echoing the dissent in a democracy.’

Amidst the intermittent rains, the awareness programme got delayed by an hour and faced some difficulties in operation but the perseverance with which the protestors and the speakers stood, made the event a successful one.

‘Narmada Bachao Andolan’ anchor, Medha Patkar spoke firmly about her differences from the Act and hinted towards having a source (whose identity shall remain undisclosed), about the fact that internal debates are happening inside the ruling party about NRC and there might be a silver lining to it.

Lawyer Karuna Nundy, who once worked with the victims of Bhopal Gas Tragedy, broke down the legal aspect of the Act and while talking about the loopholes, said, “the males, urban,  and savarnas will have a much greater chance of having documents contrary to the females, village dwellers, bahujan, aadivasi, etc.” She also talked about the correlation with what she said,” ‘Hindutva supremacist philosophy’ and ‘toxic masculinity and patriarchy.’ ” She concluded by reciting the preamble of the Constitution of India.

Tushar Gandhi outrightly called out the government for distortion of history and manipulation. He said, “we will never be enslaved again and must have our heads held high.”

Justice Kolse Patil stood in the drizzle whilst appreciating the youth mobilisation and talked about the importance of education and student movements.

Journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani majorly emphasised about the role of women in the protests and saluted the ones in Shaheen Bagh who took to the streets for their rights. She also addressed the ethics of media and how it’s the “voice of the voiceless.” 

Speaker sessions were complemented by songs, from ‘dastak‘, slogans, rhymes, etc in between to keep the crowd engaged despite the drizzle and rain.

The programme was wrapped up by chants and slogans of Azadi, Inquilab, etc. Although the event was to be followed with a protest march at the end but it was cancelled as the rain caused a delay. Hence, affecting the time-bound permission sought prior to the event from the officials. Upon denied any relaxation in time, protesters raised both of their hands up as a gesture, in the air and chanted freedom slogans once again and thus concluded a successfully held peaceful protest.

The students who joined in on the protest talked to DU Beat and said that they felt ‘relatively safer’ in protesting inside the campus and are motivated by Bismil and Ashfaq to speak up and fight for what they believe is wrong. Some of them deemed the act as ‘unconstitutional’ and would continue to fight it till it’s not taken back.

 

Featured Image Credits: Umaima Khanam for DU Beat

Umaima Khanam 

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Student of Hansraj College Assaulted during a Protest Against CAA-NRC inside the Campus

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Students of Hansraj College came together to protest against CAA-NRC and demanded an inquiry into the incident involving the assault of a fellow student.

The students had given a call for dressing up in black, reading the preamble and singing the National Anthem to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) on 15th January 2020.

On 13th January 2020, students had tried staging a gathering and reading the preamble along with Swami Vivekananda’s famous Chicago speech, but the administration had intervened and dispersed the students who had gathered at Lovers’ Point in Hansraj College. Interestingly, no such active intervention took place when a pro-CAA demonstration took place in the college ground on the same day.

Because of this outbreak, the students decided to collect in the college cafeteria, albeit not collectively. At 12:50 p.m. on a signal by a student, everyone rose and sang the National Anthem and read the Preamble in unison. This way, the students of Hansraj were able to register their dissent in a democratic and peaceful manner despite efforts by the Administration to quell it.

Amidst everything, a third-year student was assaulted by a College Faculty member on 13th January, regarding which the students have filed a complaint with the Principal. The Principal informed the students that a disciplinary committee has been formed to look into the matter and requested the students to wait for two days.

The students held a meeting and decided to take the matter up to the Delhi Police and higher authorities in the University Administration should the college further delay action, while resolving to continue fighting against the recent regime.

 

Feature Image Credits : DU Beat Archives

Khush Vardhan Dembla

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Tarang’20: LSR’s Dramsoc Cancels their Theatre Events

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Keeping the recent atrocity in mind , the Dramatics Society of Lady Shri Ram College cancelled their theatre events Yavnika and Nukkad that are a part of the College’s Annual Cultural Fest, Tarang to extend solidarity to the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, Shaheen Bagh, Kashmir, Assam, and all those who choose to break the normalcy and raise their voices against this fascist regime.

With the issue of a Press Release, the Dramatics Society of Lady Shri Ram College cancelled their theatre events, Yavnika and Nukkad that are a part of the College’s Annual Cultural Fest, Tarang. This was a conscious choice made by the entire society, given the current state, the nation is in and the discomfort with putting up a celebration amidst all that is going around.

Further, it is an action taken to break the normalcy of the situation and create a fissure in the daily lives of everyone involved in this process.

The Press Release issued by the Dramatics Society stated, “We as citizens and more importantly as students in these times, cannot choose to ignore the socio-political situation of this country, and the very fact that the democracy we so proudly uphold is in danger.”

Many societies in the Delhi Collegiate Theatre Circuit (DCTC) have issued solidarity statements against the state-sponsored brutality against students and for the protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Tushar Bahirwani, a member of Rangayan, Dramatics Society of ARSD, said, “It should also be noted that more than ever, it truly matters what we choose as topics of our plays. Street Theatre is a form of protest, with intense research and interpretation, it can definitely cause a change among the circuit as well. I might not cancel my own theatre fest, but, I definitely believe the content and topic of play should be widely considered as a parameter for judgement.”

Following this, The Dramatics society has chosen this as their way of showcasing solidarity with Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Shaheen Bagh, Kashmir, Assam, and all those who choose to break this normalcy and raise their voices against this fascist regime.

In context of the theatre events, and what motivated them to take this step, Simran, Secretary, The Dramatics Society, said, “Motivation for this action would definitely be that, how uncomfortable we were with whatever was happening around us. Just at the time we were starting to prepare for our fest, and sponsorship and publication, that’s exactly when the JNU violence happened. And this cannot be the way we go forward a celebration, its not the times to celebrate. To all those students protesting and the ones sitting outside Jamia Millia Islamia, giving up on their education. It’s the least we can do to be part of this revolution.”

Saman Waheed, Subhead, FoodFest Team, Organising Committee, on the repercussions of their actions on the entire fest, said, “It affects the college in the sense that since this statement has reached mainstream media (a news piece was published in The Hindu, I don’t know about other papers), the sponsors and the vendors we have been in contact with would probably back out, because the footfall would decrease considerably in such a case. We only got to know their decision after their press release.”

With respect to this, a General Body Meeting (GBM) was conducted in the College premises to discuss this issue and it’s likely that the fest would be postponed.

Many also questioned the intent of the Dramatics Society to truly contribute to the protest, as they have cancelled their event, however, might compete in fests of other colleges.

In response to this, Simran, replied, “We have not decided our stance yet. We will let all know soon.”

A proper statement regarding the future of Tarang and the stance of the society is awaited.

The Press Release also stated, “This is also a call to the other teams and theatre societies across Delhi NCR to join in this attempt to echo the voices of this wide struggle.” 

The cancellation will also be followed by small events and actions that mark their dissent, which they urge all to join in.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat 

Chhavi Bahmba 

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Cluster Innovation Centre Faces Red Taping in Sanctioned Funds

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Cluster Innovation Centre (CIC) faced a severe fund crunch as the year 2019 came to an end due to limited resources which also affected the recruitment of new staff. 

Cluster Innovation Centre (CIC), established in 2011, gave students an opportunity to envision a trans-disciplinary approach. CIC offers three courses:  B.Tech and Mathematical innovation, M.Sc in Mathematical Education and B.A. in Humanities and Social Science. These courses are uniquely designed for students to work on several projects with an aim to offer constructive solutions to problems faced by people in real life.

Professor Yogesh Tyagi was appointed as the new Vice Chancellor of the University of Delhi (DU) in 2016 and according to the students and the Faculty, the functioning of the centre changed completely. With a cap of INR 15000, students were asked to go through a lengthy Government e- marketplace (GEM) procedure. The new regulations imposed within CIC are hampering the projects of students. Many students complained about having to negotiate for items on GEM, and if the items were not available, the students were not left with many alternatives to turn to.

IMG-20200115-WA0017

Image Credits: The Times of India

Students mentioned various other problems that they had to face when the new regulations were introduced in CIC after Dinesh Singh’s tenure ended as the Vice Chancellor. Although, there are no serious constraints on funds for humanities projects, the other two courses may require some modifications. CIC projects are solely based in Delhi-NCR which may overlook real issues faced by people outside the targeted area.

Former CIC Director, M. Chaturvedi had previously commented on CIC’s dire need for growth and modification in the curriculum. He had added that the projects formulated by students could help the centre in earning a considerable amount of revenue. With a fund crunch, students and staff in solidarity believe that modifications within the centre must be introduced. However, there has been no official word from the officials of the University regarding this issue.

Feature Image Credits- DU Beat Archives

Suhani Malhotra

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Campus Central

St. Stephen’s to Offer a Course on Public Policy

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Delhi University’s (DU’s) St. Stephen’s is set to provide short-term courses on Public Policy and International Relations, and other disciplines.

On 12th January, Saturday, St. Stephen’s  College of the Delhi University launched a special centre, namely St. Stephen’s Centre for Advanced Learning (SCAL), for conducting certificate and advanced level courses across a variety of new disciplines. This includes a short-term certificate course on Public Policy and International Relations (PPIR).

An official statement said provided that the SCAL’s PPIR course is to be held over a period of six weekends at the College. It is designed so as to allow young graduates to gain a better understanding of the field, vis-a-vis, “how it is framed, theorized, formulated and implemented”.

The first batch of students for the same is highly diverse and comprises of entry-to-mid-senior level professionals from the fields of banking, development, consultancy, NGOs, politics, and healthcare. The course deals with a variety of topics including policy formation, development, and implementation, policy economics, international relations, international security and diplomacy, and more.

The official statement also suggested that SCAL will involve its intellectual alumni with vast experience and expertise in the said field, across Government Ministries, Departments, and Corporate boardrooms. This includes current and former ambassadors, bureaucrats, and leaders from various fields.

Shashi Tharoor, Congress Minister of Parliament (MP), Mani Shanker Aiyer, diplomat and MP,  and Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, are some of the listed resource persons for this course. An inaugural programme was hosted in the College for the same on Saturday during which an inaugural lecture was delivered by Tharoor.

Other discipline-specific courses have also been planned and announcements regarding this will be made soon on the College website, provided the official statement.

Feature Image Credits: Surbhit Rastogi for DU Beat

Aditi Gutgutia

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