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A Heartfelt Ode from the crisis torn Assam

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As I write this, I am not fine actually. I don’t know if you are aware of the situation in Assam ever since the Citizenship Amendment Act was passed in the Indian Parliament. Nothing seems to be like a normal vacation back home this time.

Right from the internet services shutdown to the peaceful gatherings; we have braved everything with courage and faith in the Indian Judiciary that justice will be delivered.

We have problems right from getting in touch and connecting with our family and friends as even a normal call wouldn’t just happen.

Sadness is a small word to capture the struggles we are going through every single day for our basic communication, essential necessities and the protection of our very own identity.

Although there is no curfew now and there have been comparatively peaceful protests, yet there is a wind of melancholy around as students in hostels of Universities have been under lockdown. Education in its truest sense is about the liberation of the mind and intellect but when our very institutions capture the intellect, where does one knock the door in search of reason and light?

As things try to return back to normal, waves of horror from the recent past are still fresh as the wounds bleed and heal simultaneously.

Everyone here had to struggle to get food and basic necessities during the curfew and the outstation students have not been able to go home because of safety issues. The Armed forces could be seen on the roads, visibly creating a vibe of horror in the minds of people once again. Our wounds had just started to heal when they got cut again in a matter of decades. The trauma is difficult to go through once again.

People are afraid to stay outside their homes until late as they fear that anything can happen at any time. Everything seems so unpredictable, it’s so heart-breaking.

Those days of internet shutdown didn’t feel like the democratic India that we had always been studying about, or been living in for so long. It was terrifying to the extent of disbelief that we had to go through the terrors normally experienced in anarchy. We felt like prisoners at the mercy of the government, hands tied and mouth forcefully shut; with no voice or medium to let our voice be heard.

My friends from the Cotton University in Guwahati were the first ones to start the series of protests initially against the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in Guwahati. They have seen it all. Right from the gunfires to curfew to the lack of food and other necessities in hostels.

My friend Panna Priyam Das sums it up. “I had read about wars, riots and civil disobedience, but all of these were a distant past and a very unlikely future until this brutal present hit me and the people of my state right in the face. I guess from romanticizing war scenarios to actually trying to fall asleep to the constant sound of sirens and gunfire and nationalistic slogans, we all got the lesson for our lackadaisical attitudes towards Politics. Fascism blossomed in our ignorance, so much so, that we have become captives in our old land and have to compromise our own integrity.”

All the artists of Assam are coming together on a common platform and starting their own kind of peaceful protests by singing patriotic songs on stages in huge fields and expressing their concern about their cultural identity being endangered and being lost, amongst them is the famous Assamese singer Zubeen Garg.

Solidarity amongst all the linguistic and religious groups can be seen despite their cultural differences as almost people from all fields came out on the roads and took out rallies in large numbers.

There is no stopping to this revolution here in the North East, but what is sad is the fact mainland media has continuously side-lined the North-East and the issues that concern us.

As I write this, I do not want my identity to remain anonymous. Rather, I want to assert my identity in all its might and glory. We are proud Assamese, proud Indians. I have faith in my nation. I have faith in my culture and my rights.

This is the time when I need to assert my identity and my culture more than ever as this is a time of crisis for my identity and culture.

Understand and talk about our cause, our problem and our plight. As Indians, it is the childhood phrase of ‘Unity in Diversity’, crossed across our hearts that defines us at this very moment.

Stand for Us. Stand for India.

 

 Featured Image Credits- Hindustan Times

Pallabi Dutta

[email protected]

 

Note- This is a guest feature, authored by a student from Delhi University .

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Why Do The Civil Wars Always Seem Endless?

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This piece will help you understand the complex and catastrophic nature of civil wars and challenges some of the myths around it.

Civil Wars, whenever I say this word, most of you would have the names of countries like Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan, and organisations like the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Al-Qaeda or Boko Haram. These countries have suffered the loss of heritage, culture with millions of displaced, thousands killed. But if you thought and still think that civil wars are just like any other war then you are in for a surprise.

Whenever two countries or nations fight, they fight for the pride of the respective nationalistic ideas or identities, the example of India and Pakistan is a very relevant one here. India and Pakistan till now, have fought four major wars with each other. But in each one of them, the Pakistani Army and the Indian Army were fighting for the pride of their nation. Similarly, when India and China fought in the 1962 Sino-Indian war, two different ideologies were morale boosters for the two armies. One, which established the Republic of India and the other which established the People’s Republic of China. But when we talk about civil wars, we are looking at a completely different ball game.

In civil wars, people who once were brothers turn against each other. The population just forgets about the heritage of their own country and goes on destroying whatever comes in their way of unending pursuit for power. It is very rightly said that a weapon in the hand of a human, gives them a lot of power. When a person picks up a weapon, they feel superior and feel that they can control everything. But it is after some time, they don’t control the weapon, but the weapon starts controlling them. That is what is happening all around the world right now.

It is not that civil wars did not take place in the 20th century, before 1956 to be exact. But at that point of time weapons were not the primary source of revolution. Fast forward to 1980s and the early 2000s, the power of weapons has driven people from trying to get justice from the government to a point that these so-called revolutionaries have become reckless. They just forget about the very reason they started all of this, justice and equality.

The Afghanistan Civil War has been going on and on since 1978, the Yemeni Civil War started after the Arab spring in around 2014, Syrian Civil War started in 2011 and the Libyan Civil War started in 2011 and they all are still going on with no seeming end. These wars and many others have still not ended, even though solutions were worked out on more than one occasion. These solutions have mostly failed because the people who have now rifles in their hands think that dialogue and talking over the table is far less effective than taking out the solution with a rifle. Discussions, deliberations and debates hold no substance whatsoever in front of bullets and bombs as these revolutionaries think that a bullet is an answer for everything. The question is, how do these terrorists get weapons and who actually fuels these wars?

If you look at major civil wars around the world, you’ll see one constant thing, there is always an involvement of foreign powers, the Saudi Arabians are interfering in Syria and Yemen or be it the Iranians interfering in Libya, Syria and Yemen or the US involved in the civil wars of Libya, Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen; they all have a personal motive.

The Middle East is still torn in the civil war because the international powers are still hungry for oil and power. Like the United States led forces helped the people of Libya to get rid of their 50-year-old dictatorship but did not help the nation to rebuild itself and now Libya is facing another bloody battle. Afghanistan is still suffering as the United States was very quick and swift when it had to neutralize Al Qaeda and its leader Osama Bin Laden but not very swift when redevelopment was to be done. Recently, the President of the United States of America, Mr Donald Trump very famously said that the United States is not in these civil war-torn countries to rebuild those nations. They are there only to wipe out terrorism. But maybe Mr Trump forgot that it was the US which supplied these terrorists with weapons and money in the first place during the 1980s.

We need to look upon the fact that it was the courtesy of these foreign powers including United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia and even China that huge amounts of weapons, training and money were given to these terrorist organisations. And no account was kept to monitor the use of these resources, whether they were being used to fight wars or to kill innocents.

There was a project called the ‘Ring Road’ project in Afghanistan that the United States started. The project aimed to rebuild the economy of Afghanistan, which was destroyed by the battle between the Mujahideen and the Soviet Union. As well as the war between the forces of Al Qaeda, Taliban and the United States and other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) powers. But after some time, the project was nearly halted around 2003, as all of the funds were re-allocated from Afghanistan to Iraq for the Gulf War, which was another war for the never-ending hunger of global powers for money and oil.

To this date, it is still disputed as to why did the United States invade Iraq. Because nuclear weapons in Iraq were not found but what was to be found was lots of oil. The Afghanistan Ring Road, now is controlled by the Taliban as international powers who actually dug up this hole have left the nation.

The international community, whenever it enters a nation, claims that they are doing so for the betterment and for the freedom of people. But as of now, there is neither any development nor any freedom. The people are willing to even leave their own countries and their very own houses. Even though this mess was created by these so-called ‘global powers’ but these nations themselves now look away.

All of us get to know about these wars and their magnitude from the media but is the coverage enough? Let’s take the example of sexual offences against women, it is estimated that every day 10 women are raped or harassed in India. Often people seem to ignore these rapes and once in a while, we come across a case which really results in a series of posts on social media. But again, after some months, we forget about these issues. We move on with our lives and that is exactly what happens and what is happening with civil wars. We hear about Syria, the millions of people trying to get into other countries, the millions of people forced to be refugees. Think about the people being killed and about the children who lost their families. But yet again, after a fair amount of time, we forget about all of this and move on with our life just as these wars continue to devastate millions.

An interesting fact is that after World War II, the world has not seen any major wars between two big economies or between the top 27 economies to be exact. But what we have seen repeatedly is the use of ‘proxy’ wars by these major economies as a show of strength. A proxy war is where no nation is directly involved but is supporting opposite sides via supplying men and machinery. Nations like the USA, Russia, UK, Germany, China, etc. have used internal conflicts like Syria and Yemen as playgrounds, which not only sounds unethical but in reality, is. An interesting fact is that the terror group ISIS or the Islamic State makes most of its revenue by selling crude oil. This oil was produced in the numerous oil refineries that they had captured in Iraq and Syria.

The question, is that who actually bought this oil? If you go back in history, you will very easily find that many western powers and eastern powers need oil for their economies and even have waged wars for it. Thus, it is being alleged that countries like Russia, China, North Korea and even Western Nations buy this oil. So, the question remains, how corrupted is this system and how deep is this hypocrisy that runs through it?

You would have often seen videos of Islamic State, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, etc. so-called fighters riding on these huge tow trucks and moving on in massive caravans. A research was done and it was found that around 90% of the transportation used by the terrorist organisations like ISIS are made by Toyota. While Toyota mostly says that they are not selling any vehicles to the terrorist organisations but that they purchase it from the second-hand markets.

Take the example of cluster bombs that are being dropped by the Syrian Army on the nation’s civilian population repeatedly. It was found that the materials which were used to make these cluster bombs were made in Turkey. Take up the case of the Saudi Arabians, who are relentlessly bombing civilian targets like hospitals, schools and even funerals in Yemen. The bombs and the fighter jets used to target these civilians are being supplied to the Saudis by the US. Besides this, the Saudi Arabians get battle damage replacement on these weapons by the United States, where the battle is the Yemeni Civil war.

We can see that a nation like China can exert its influence on other countries around the globe as it has money and a good economy. The bitter truth is that every single bomb which has been supplied to Syria or Yemen or every single raw material supplied to these civil war-torn countries, give huge amounts of money to the economies of the world powers and it is because of this money that we are able to grow at a rapid pace.

Image 2

Image Credits: Aniket Singh Chauhan

(The countries marked in Green are the ones where civil wars are taking place. While the ones in red are indirect or international participants. The ones with a black square on them signify that they are involved in more than one civil war)

If we try to talk about the solutions, the first question that pops up is whether the exporting of weapons should be stopped? Or should we stop exerting power? But is stopping these activities, the answer to global civil wars? If we stop everything then firstly our economies will suffer, millions of people will get unemployed and those are the right ingredients for starting a decades-long civil war.

The example of the alcohol and tobacco industry can help us understand this issue better. According to several studies, if these products are banned and production is stopped, even though there may arise short term problems but such actions, in the long run, can increase productivity. But the short-term consequences themselves would be disastrous. Houses are destroyed, lives get ruined and people are even sold in some parts of India to get the money for buying such products. Firstly, our economy will be hit because a lot of people will be laid off their jobs and secondly, people will think of it as an attack on their personal liberties. Similarly, in the weapons industry shrinking of orders will result in job cuts and unemployment which will cause unemployment levels to go haywire.

But then what is the solution to stop Civil Wars? No global power in the world, at any point, would stop their intelligence network and thereby shrink their influence. Because, the more the governments around the world are affected by the actions of a single nation, the more powerful that nation is. Examples of our very close neighbour of Sri Lanka or Rwanda can be taken up here. The civil wars in these countries ended with an unprecedented genocide by one faction on the other, with no regard for human rights at all. But both of these Nations today are peaceful, and people have food in their bellies, money in the hands and a house to sleep. So, the question which now arises is, is it essential to completely disregard the Human Rights during a civil war to let its people live peacefully after the war? According to me, this is absolutely not the answer. And that is what makes civil war so much more complex than a war between two major powers.

As two major powers can sit on a table, discuss and deliberate the peace treaties but the factions in a civil war, who only know the language of a rifle cannot understand the language of negotiating. That is why civil wars are a huge mess which gets even more cluttered the moment international forces interferes.

Hypocrisy in civil wars extends to unforeseeable levels. Afghanistan right now is being ruled by the Taliban Government which the United States was fighting at one point of time. And currently is actually ready to negotiate the very leaders of Taliban who have killed children, women, minorities and even US soldiers for not abiding by their rules.

Every great nation on the face of this Earth, at one point, faced or was part of a humanitarian crisis. Be it the United States which killed millions of Native Americans and destroyed their culture; or be it Russia/USSR which starved and executed millions in their Gulag Camps; or be it China which caused the death of more than 25 million Chinese because of manmade disasters like the Great Chinese disasters, a disaster caused by the Great Leap Forward programme started by its so-called founding father Mao Zedong; or be colonial powers like England, France, Denmark, Belgium and Germany who accumulated their power and influence from around the world by stripping each and every person in their colonies of wealth, culture, heritage, language and even their life.

It is estimated that imperial powers killed more than half a million people in their colonies. For perspective, this is equivalent to the added populations of Indonesia and Brazil.  Even India saw a genocide on its Western as well as the Eastern borders, wherein nearly 2 million people died. But today, India is one of the top 10 largest economies in the world. Therefore, after seeing these examples, the question which arises is- Is the utter disregard to Human Rights a precursor to the establishment of a Great Nation? The answer to this question can be summarised in just one line.

“In times of war, the law falls silent”

-Marcus Tullius Cicero

But maybe it is our responsibility as human beings to not let the law become blind during the times of conflict. It’s often believed that it is actually the instruments of warlike weapons and armies that can bring peace or what is also known as military deterrence. But if we can develop such complex military weapons, then humankind can also develop means of peace and justice that will never fall silent, no matter how horrifying the future civil wars and genocides are.

Featured Image Credits: The Free Press Journal

 

Aniket Singh Chauhan

[email protected]

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Auburn Umbrella: Tips For The Perfect Haircut From a Barbershop

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While taking a stroll around a locality or a campus, we generally look around for a food joint or a daily needs shops, but we sometimes ignore the shops with posters of Zayn Malik, Justin Bieber, David Beckham or Honey Singh.

Being an Indian man, I was told from my childhood that men are always supposed to have short hair. The situation has changed, and Indian men are now more concerned about their hairstyles, evident from them checking it out every other minute or just being concerned about how their hair looks every second of the day. Whether you are going for a classic side part or a crazy hairstyle, hair needs constant maintenance and the occasional touch of an expert. There are Barbershops that can give you a haircut for as cheap as 50 INR, but very few actually choose these kinds of places, maybe because these are for men only or because they might not be as good as a ‘Professional Salon’.

Here are some tips for you to get an amazing haircut, even from a barbershop!

  • Keep realistic photos of yourself handy

Most of the barbers that you will encounter possess the same, or even better skill set as compared to your so-called “professionals”. They might not be accustomed to the terms that you might use like mohawk, sideburn, step cut etc. but they do have the potential to execute them. Keep a photo of the haircut you desire handy and even better if you keep a realistic photo of yourself and not a google one because it would help with their understanding of the photos are provided in multiple angles.

Young Indian barber in his barbershop cutting a boys hair, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
Image Caption: Young Indian barber in his barbershop cutting a boys hair, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India  Image Credits: BBC
  • Talk to him with patience

Local barbers are used to attending customers that don’t really know what they want and just want the job done fast. That’s why they don’t discuss the haircut and discuss other random topics like politics or neighbourhood gossip. If you just ask them to wait before the haircut and explain to them exactly what you want, there would be no communication gap and you would get the desired results. If you leave the things in their hand, you might not get the desired results, because their understanding of a desirable haircut might be different than yours

  • Zyaada chhote mat kaatna (Do not cut it too short)

Coming back to the type of customers they are used to attending, barbers are used to cutting hair really short. The simple solution is to tell them not to do so!

Image Credits:
Image Credits: Athanasios Papadopoulo
  • More expectations, more disappointment

At last, don’t expect your first experience with a local barber to go so great, it might take some time for them to get used to your needs and it might take some time for you to get used to communicating or choosing the better one from your locality but it is worth the effort for all the money and hassle you save! Also, Local barbers do not really use a lot of products and just keep the process simple, so it is beneficial for your hair as well!

Good Luck!

Featured Image Credits: Pinterest

Akshat Arora

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Delhi Police attacks Jamia Millia Islamia Students

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On 15th December, Delhi Police was seen open firing at Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) students protesting against the CAA. 

This came after the JMI students were accused of setting four buses on fire as a means of protest. However, in a statement, the Jamia Students and Alumni Association clarified that the violent protests were organized by the people living in the area.  “The university has already declared winter vacation and postponed semester examination after 13 December incident. A large number of students staying in hostels have already left and the Vice-Chancellor Najma Akhtar appealed to the students to maintain peace,” said the association. 

The police open fired from the JMI University gate at the unarmed students inside. Videos also surfaced where the Delhi Police could be seen firing and lathi charging at the protesters near the New Friends Colony. 

The police then entered the campus forcefully and trashed the library and the mosque with tear gas attacks. 

Waseem Ahmad Khan the Chief Proctor of Jamia Milia Islamia University said in his statement, “Police have entered the campus by force, no permission was given. Our staff and students are being beaten up and forced to leave the campus.”

“The police entered the campus and was violent towards the students. They attacked us with tear gas and the students had to hide inside the library campus… some of the students have hurt their heads and other body parts. There is no medical facility currently available here” said Saimon Farooqi, National Secretary of NSUI.

In another video recording, a student could be heard saying; “reading hall mein ghuske sheeshe todd ke tear gas chodd rahe hain. Hum sab log lights off karke chhupe huye hain yaha pe (they are deploying tear gas after breaking the windows in the reading hall. We are all hiding after shutting off the lights) ”

Videos of police brutality surfaced online where students were seen unconscious amidst the rubble in the aftermath. In a video, students could be seen hiding and blocking the room from the Policemen outside. In another video, a man named Mohammad Taneem, admitted in Holy Family Hospital, could be seen with a bullet wound on his leg. It has been speculated that  Shakir, a student of JMI, also passed away due to the attack with rumors of two other unconfirmed deaths also circulating.

The students were then given a window of an hour to leave the campus safely.

The Delhi Police, however, said that the situation is under control at Jamia university. “It was a violent mob, some of them were detained.”

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Chinmoy Biswal said to PTI, “four buses and two police vehicles were torched during the protest, adding six policemen were also injured. Stones were pelted from inside the varsity at police personnel, forcing them to use teargas to disperse the violent mob.”

Saurav Ghosh, General Secretary of All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO), issued the following statement, “the AIDSO in strongest words condemn the firing on protesting students in Jamia Milia Islamia today. The students of JMI have time and again declared that they are resolved to continue the protest peacefully. In spite of that, on the pretext of violence by some fringe elements, which need a thorough interrogation, the police started firing bullets on the peaceful protestors of JMI, resulting in many casualties. Many of them got bullet injuries and were admitted to the hospital… We uphold the rights of the student’s community for their democratic protest against the communally biased Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which is being opposed nationwide and warn the police administration as well as the central government to immediately stop exercising these brutal and deadly attacks.”

Statements from JNUSU, JNUTA and other student groups came out in support of JMI appealing students to come to protest in front of the Delhi Police Headquarters in ITO. They then marched towards ITO chanting the slogan, “Delhi police, Jamia Choddo”. The march was also attended by various activists and several MPs. DU North Campus students also came out to protest in support of JMI students at Vishwavidhalaya Metro Station.

Apparently, Special Taskforce was also deployed in Jamia at around 11 pm on 15th December with a curfew all over and orders to shoot on sight. 

Entry and exit gates of metro stations of IIT, GTB Nagar, Patel Chowk, Model Town, Pragati Maidan, Delhi Gate, Shivaji Stadium, RK Puram, Munirka, Vasant Vihar, Sukhdev Vihar, Jamia Millia Islamia, Okhla, and Vishwavidhalaya have also now been closed. Trains will not be halting at these stations.

Feature Image Credits: Anonymous

Satviki Sanjay

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Campus Central

Complains of Discrepancies in Semester Examinations

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The students of Delhi University have observed multiple discrepancies during the Semester-End Examinations causing various issues. Read further for more details.

On 4th December, students of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (SBSC) writing the GE History paper for the first semester received a question paper that was out of syllabus, raising a huge concern among them all.

“We had our GE History Paper yesterday Delhi Through the Ages. Our syllabus for this year was changed. But, our particular class has got a separate paper than that of others, i.e, of the previous syllabus. Other classes have got the new paper, we got the old one. Even after we told our teacher, he denied it. We’ll get zero marks if the person checking our answer sheet doesn’t get the paper, as we had different question papers from others,” said a student writing the exam. The student further provided that they had contacted the Principal who further directed a letter to the concerned authorities. Hopefully, corrective measures will be taken soon.

Further, on the 5th of December, students from Ramanujan College giving their 5th-semester exams for B.A (Prog) E.S.B ( Entrepreneurship and Small Business) had been given a paper which was completely out of the syllabus taught to them. Vaibhav, a student giving the paper at Ramanujan says, “Our syllabus was completely different than what came in the exam. I read the first question and I thought I don’t know this, I read the second question and I didn’t know it and when I got to the third question, I raised my voice and asked is this In the syllabus and everyone there agreed that all of this wasn’t in the syllabus.”

Initially, the invigilators had been very helpful in alerting the administration. However, after an hour was waste by these students, they were told to either attempt the paper or leave, and
no helpful solution was provided. This threw the students into a very bad situation.

Rishansh, who had called the teacher during the exam says “ When I asked the authorities for help during the exam, initially they were helpful but then after a while, they said this is your syllabus according to the DU website. When I called the teacher, he didn’t pick up, he later responded saying he couldn’t pick up due to the DUTA strike. I tried to coordinate with the teacher to sort this out the next day but he was not serious at all. We are very worried.”

Another similar incident was observed on the 7th of December during the Political Science paper for the first semester throughout Delhi University. Students claim to have received questions from the old syllabus.

“We had 3 questions from Democracy which wasn’t there in the new syllabus. Everybody was upset about it but nobody exactly complained about it. We had to attempt any 4 questions out of the 8, so nobody really did anything. And the last question was short notes on any 2 out of 4 and two of them were from democracy and one direct question from democracy,” stated a first year Political Science student from Lady Shri Ram College for Women. To our knowledge, no corrective measures for the same were taken.

Further issues were faced in Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies in Rohini where the paper for Basics of Statistical Inference was delayed by 1 hour since it didn’t reach the college on time.

These recurrent instances speak volumes about the impetuous nature of the Examination Department of Delhi University. These heedless actions may severely impact the academic careers of countless students. Hopefully, these errors would be corrected in a timely manner.

Feature Image Credits: Vaibhav Tekchandani for DU Beat.

Prabhanu Kumar Das

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Aditi Gutgutia

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Allegations of Sexual Misconduct in Miranda House

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On 7th November, a student of Miranda house circulated a message accusing an employee of the college of sexual misconduct. 

 

On 7th November, a student of Miranda House circulated a message on WhatsApp accusing an employee of the college photocopy shop of sexual misconduct. The student alleged that the employee kept staring at her body and making inappropriate statements. 

The message read, “Today I had to visit the photocopy shop of Miranda House for some urgent piece of work related to a reading for my examination… I went to the shop and I was talking to this man named Karan I believe. From the very first instance, he made me feel super comfortable with his constant glances onto my breast. I chose to ignore it. Then he had to ask me why I was here a day before my exam because according to him the whole year I was on social media flirting with boys. I told him to do his work and let me leave. Then he said to me, ‘ aapne sweater kyun pehna hai?, itni thand nahi hai. Abhi andar shameez (probably my inner) bhi pehni hogi.’  (Why are you wearing a sweater? It’s not that cold. You must be wearing thermals inside.)I was dumbstruck and couldn’t respond. Then again, he said to me,’Ek baat bolu? Bura mat manna, aapki strap dikh rahi hai, acha nahi lag raha. (Your strap is showing, it doesn’t look good.) I responded that it’s none of his business. Then he asked me to paytm the amount for the reading on his personal number. I insisted that I’d do it on the barcode already there on the shop, but he said it’s not working. Left with no option, I forwarded the money on his personal number” 

However, swift action was taken soon after this message was circulated. Within hours, the issue was registered with the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) and discussed with the authorities. The Miranda House Student Union (MHSU) responded saying that the authorities have decided to bar the entry of the accused, Karan, into the college premises and the police have also been kept in the loop with the case. 

“On an urgent basis, training of all the non-teaching staff will also be conducted, and a list of the members and their conduct thereon will be recorded periodically. This program is already conducted for all the teaching staff but will now also be extended to the non-teaching staff with immediate effect,” said the MHSU. 

In addition, a message explaining the functioning of the ICC was also circulated in college WhatsApp groups for a clarification of the process of dealing with such incidents. 

“The student is meeting the ICC members for formal proceedings. Her TIC and mentor have reached out to her.  MH has a zero-tolerance for sexual harassment. Proud of the student who spoke up and reached out. Thank you for informing me,” said Dr. Bijayalaxmi Nanda, the Acting Principal of Miranda House. 

 

DU Beat reached out to the Miranda House Student Union for comment but didn’t receive a response. 

Feature Image Credits: Lavina Mulani

Satviki Sanjay

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Is the Indian Parliament working enough?

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The last three terms of the Lok Sabha have something in common: the wastage of the parliament’s stipulated working time.

Taking the case of the 16th Lok Sabha which started in 2014 and was dissolved in 2019 a total of 1,615 hours was the actual time the lower house, i.e., the Lok Sabha worked which is a staggering 40% lower than the average working time of Lok Sabha which is 2,689 hours.  A total of 16% of the time or the working hours were wasted due to obstructions like walkouts, etc. Coming to the Upper House, i.e., the Rajya Sabha we get to know that it also lost around 36% of its time due to such disruption. If we compare these disruptions to previous Lok Sabhas, we get to know that though the 16th Lok Sabha fared better than its predecessor the 15th Lok Sabha but fared poorly when compared to the 14th Lok Sabha. The 16th Lok Sabha sat for only 331 days which is significantly lower than the average of 468 days. Due to the massive NDA (National Democratic Alliance) majority in the 16th Lok Sabha it passed a total of 133 bills and 45 ordinances which is again more than its predecessor but less than the 14th Lok Sabha or the time of UPA (United Progressive Alliance). To add to this exiguous performance the Rajya Sabha was worse off than the Lok Sabha in terms of efficiency partly due to lack of NDA majority in Rajya Sabha. Even though there have been speculations and accusations that the NDA government made arbitrary decisions and was not discussing the bills enough but the data by PRS Legislative Research ( a prominent research institution based in New Delhi) tells us that more discussions were there in the 16th Lok Sabha as compared to previous assemblies.

In 2019, the Rajya Sabha worked at a distressingly low-efficiency rate of 7% whereas the Lok Sabha work was pegged at an efficiency rate of 77%, which though is more than its compatriot but way lesser than the average of the parliament during the monsoon sessions which normally is around 95%. These facts and figures show that nowadays political parties want to have an argument rather than a rational debate which just results in the delay of the government’s work and the citizens’ taxes. Even during the Question Hours of the parliament, the opposition tends to stick to its questions and not listen to the answers. It has been estimated that each working day of the Indian parliament costs the Indian taxpayers around Rs. 6,00,00,000 or Six crore rupees. The solution to this problem is not as simple blaming the other side for such disruptions rather it requires a sustained effort from the government’s side which should teach the MPs or the Members of the Parliament about the mannerisms under which they should conduct themselves in, as these are not mere politicians but elected representatives of more than 1.3 billion Indian Citizens who need to work tirelessly for the betterment of this nation.

 

To get a better perspective on the issue, we asked some students about their views on the problem. Khushi Malhotra of Maharaja Agrasen College, says, “Efficiency isn’t present there. These people make the decisions for our nation, but still, political propaganda is given more importance than actual decision making. Often the opposition just tries to avoid passing bills for the ruling party like the Prasar Bharati Bill, 1979”. Apart from this another student, Sriya Rane from Cluster Innovation Centre (DU), tells us, “The Indian Parliament only works for 75 days while in Britain the working days amount to 152. Even though absenteeism has now reduced but still the problem is there. In other countries, the MPs are paid according to their attendance but in India, the salary is on a monthly basis and thus the MPs aren’t motivated to come to the parliament itself. Thus, the productive output of the parliament isn’t optimum”.

 

 Feature Image Credits: Surbhit Rastogi for DU Beat

Aniket Singh Chauhan

[email protected]

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Arts & Culture

Book Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

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Read our correspondent’s opinion on the book Fangirl. 

Fangirl is a coming–of–age story of two twins who grew up in the world of online fandoms. The protagonist, Cath, assisted by her twin Wren is one of the most successful fanfiction authors on the web based off of their favourite books. Wren and Cath had done everything together, owing to the absence of their mother in their lives growing up, until now. Moving out to university in Nebraska, Wren does not wish to be roommates with her twin and the decision proves difficult for Cath who has evolved into an introvert, being overly attached to Wren- her best friend and only link to a social life. Now being separated from her only source of comfort, Cath must face the life of a freshman in university, dealing with anxiety, a rude, eccentric roommate and hyperactive Levi, the guy who just won’t leave her alone.

Every chapter begins with excerpts from not only Cath’s fan fiction but also the “canons” from the Simon Snow books, which she is so intricately and deeply in love with. Through her writing, Cath can express things she can’t in real life, where she’s extremely reclusive and socially inept. Wren was the only one able to link with Cath and her parallel realities, but now she seems uncaring in her own party-life. Shaken, Cath finds solace in the company of Levi, and the emergency dance parties with him.

More than anything, the book proves to be extremely relatable. An easy, laidback yet creative and funny writing style aptly complements the fresh narrative layered with empathy, emotion and understanding.  

I’d wave my hands around and make noises to make everyone read this absolutely delightful yet a book that makes you think. It made all the emotional goosebumps and the teary-eyed reading and the big sighs happen for me as a reader. I so identified with Cath, with her determination, her directness and her fear of being a part of a world which was far from reality but brought her peace and ease when nothing else could.

So, fan-people, grab your copies today and let’s get that emergency dance party going.

 “Cath felt like she was swimming in words. Drowning in them, sometimes.”

– Rainbow Rowell, Fangirl

 

Feature Image Credits: Thoughts of a Bibliophile

Bhavya Pandey

[email protected]

 

 

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DUB Speak

Pride and Privilege: An unequal scale

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A look at how caste and class privilege is still prevalent in the LGBTQI+ Movement in India and how accessible it is to all sections of society.

The LGBTQIA+ movement has taken great strides in India in the form of awareness and rights. An example of how this movement has succeeded is the Supreme Court ruling that Section 377 of the IPC as unconstitutional on 6th September 2018. On the 26th of November 2019, the movement has suffered a setback in the form of the Rajya Sabha passing the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill which is regressive for the Trans community and a step backward for the movement in the country. The question that arises is.  Does the LGBTQIA+ movement consider intersectionalities within the movement or, Does it cater only to certain privileged classes within big cities and still remain inaccessible to people from marginalized communities such as Dalits and Muslims.

The true essence of a movement should lie in fighting for the people within it. An example of this can be seen from an excerpt from Hasratein: A Queer Collective’s latest statement urging action against the Trans Bill during the Pride Parade. “This Pride is not a party, it’s a fight. It’s a brawl in a bar that ends with a brick thrown on the head of a cop. It sparks a revolution. It is for the trans community. Only when this atrocious bill is defeated, do we celebrate. Join us in our rage at Delhi Queer Pride to continue our resistance against this fascist state.”

A noticeable aspect of the pride parade and the LGBTQI+ movement is the ignorance of intersectionality. Rishi Raj Vyas, a Dalit queer activist when talking about the Pride Parade says “When we were at Pride, they did not let us raise the flag of Babasaheb Ambedkar saying that Pride is only for LGBTQ people, thus denying access to queer Dalit and queer Muslim people. So, we need to have more intersectional spaces for queer individuals from different caste and class backgrounds and yes, we need to educate people, especially queer people about struggles of people of class and people of caste”

Yameena, a student of sociology from Miranda House, University of Delhi says “The LGBTQIA+ movement in India has the tendency of excluding Muslims and Dalits. It’s often a result of the inherent islamophobia and casteism of the Savarna queers. It’s also important to look at the issue from a socio-political dimension.”

It is a very important point to consider that the accessibility of these movements for different castes and classes within India is still next to none. Prachi, a student of IPCW says “Coming from a very privileged place, it was very hard for me to remember any Muslim or Dalit queer person I know or have met in real life. the Muslim or Dalit people I know are not publicly out to the world because we live in a very Hindu dominated society and this society is not at all safe for them.”

It is time to recognize that privilege does exist within the sphere of the LGBTQIA+ movement in this country, and while it might take steps forward, the overall effort will be fruitless if the many different socio-political factors within the movement and its intersectionalities aren’t recognized. There is a need to examine and introspect how this movement and all the positives within it can reach and incorporate all sections of society.

Feature Image Credits: Noihrit Gogoi for DU Beat

Prabhanu Kumar Das

[email protected]

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DUB News

DUSU Converts Office Common Room into Open Library for Students

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The Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) decided to convert the common room of its office space into a library for students, which is supposed to remain open throughout the hours of the day, all days of the week. Read on to know more. 

The North Campus of the Delhi University (DU) has, for a protracted amount of time, longed for a good place to study. The students often complain about the lack of 24×7 libraries and moreover of quality libraries itself.

This problem is more visible during the exam season at the Varsity. As students aren’t able to study in hostel or PG rooms as the rooms are primarily small and the libraries seem to be full all the time. The present libraries either lack the seating capacity or updated books and internet. The students thus, are forced to go to private studying spaces and libraries which are chargeable based on the hour. A large amount of the students hence find this to be very expensive and therefore aren’t able to study properly.

DUSU has, on various occasions, tried to overcome this problem by sending letters to the DU Administration, but the same has not resulted in any positive reaction by the latter. Seeing the gravity of the issue, DUSU led by its President, Akshit Dahiya, has tried to deal with the problem on its own. DUSU has converted the meeting/waiting room in its President’s cabin, at the DUSU Office, into an open library.

Speaking to DU Beat, Dahiya said, “DUSU has for a long time demanded to turn regular libraries into 24×7 libraries in order to help the students. I have met with Proctor and the Rector several times over this issue, as we in our manifesto promised for better and increased number of libraries. During the exam times, several students have conveyed to me that their rooms are too small for studies and that college libraries are always full. Thus, they are forced to go to private libraries and as many of the students cannot afford the same, they face a lot of problems in managing their expenses. Thus, I opened my meeting room for these students to study. I have even sent a letter to the Proctor and other concerned authorities and have warned them that, if no action is taken to solve this library issue, I will even send these students to their offices itself. However, they seem to understand the gravity of the situation and have agreed to meet me on Monday. We are providing the students with internet for e-books and a space to study to the students at the DUSU Office. The students are supporting us a lot and are giving us positive feedback too. I aim to get a solution out for this issue in my meeting on Monday with the Proctor.”

This is a welcome step taken by the Union. However, its implementation and security will be seen only as time comes

 

Feature Image Credits: Scopio

Aniket Singh Chauhan

[email protected]

 

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