DU Beat, Author at DU Beat - Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper

Bazinga

Bazinga: Colleges Must Install Air Purifiers, says DU

By DU Beat November 17, 2019

The Students’ Welfare Committee (SWC) that met last week has decided to install air purifiers in the colleges to assure a pollution-free space for students in times of acute pollution.

Delhi has been a gravely polluted space, and it remains so with an alarmingly increasing ratio of pollutants being added into the atmosphere, especially after Diwali celebrations. Even though the Government of Delhi tried to reduce pollution this year, by organising a Diwali celebration and light show in Connaught Place, the results have still been underwhelming. Keeping this in mind, the SWC of the University of Delhi (DU), in its meeting on 1st November, decided to notify all colleges to install air purifiers by the end of the coming month.

This decision was taken after various protests from the students to close colleges, with respect to the pollution in the city were organised throughout the Campus.

“It would not be possible for the colleges to shut down, the University understands the importance of healthcare and values the same, but providing leave to students could lead to the syllabus not being

completed on time and, thus, the Varsity has decided to install air purifiers to ensure that the students’ breath cleaner air,” Bhushan Sarthee Roy, a Committee member, stated.

In the meantime, the Committee has also decided to provide the students with pollution masks at a subsided rate.

Air purifiers are expensive and, thus, this decision was also criticised as the purchase of such a large quantity would not only require additional resources but they also need to be maintained. A memorandum has been sent to the Ministry of Education, with respect to the implementation of the same. Some colleges were not supportive of this decision. “Such a move would mean that the college has to make various changes to accommodate the installation of purifiers.

The Committee has instructed the colleges to bear installation charges and that in turn would reflect on the college fees,” An official, who did not wish to be named, stated. This move has been applauded by many.

“It’s such a relief that DU has decided to install purifiers. It was very difficult to breathe the past week, and many students were suffering from chest pains,” Avantika, a second-year B.A. (Honors) English student at St. Stephen’s College, said.

This move has garnered both negative and positive attention from students and management alike. The news surely comes as a relief to the students as long as the expenses are not added to their term bills.

Disclaimer: Bazinga is our weekly column of almost believable fake news. It is only to be appreciated and not accepted.

Featured Image Credits- Global News CA

Stephen Mathew

DUB Speak

Generation Snowflake – Where Did Tolerance Go?

By DU Beat November 16, 2019

On this ‘International Day of Tolerance’, here’s an understanding of the term ‘generation snowflake’ and the diminishing tolerance in the society.

“You are not special. You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same organic and decaying matter as everyone else,” said Tyler Durden in Fight Club.

Snowflake, literally meaning frozen rain is a term used to describe oversensitive individuals who melt at the slightest increase in temperature just like an actual snowflake. They feel a sense of entitlement and believe their opinion to be right all the time. They have a hard time accommodating conflicting opinions and get offended at the drop of a hat.

Today’s generation of oversensitive millennials and post-millennials are commonly categorized as ‘generation snowflake’. It is widely believed that this generation is more prone to taking offence than any other previous generation. While every generation takes offence at some or the other things, our generation seems to be more vulnerable and sensitive.

As the famous feminist saying goes ‘Personal is political’, the current generation seems to have started taking everything political as personal resulting in high emotional responses.

Researchers argue that university students today are overly self-entitled, averse to any form of criticism and lack resilience to accommodate conflicts. While this is a debatable argument, the increasing trigger warnings before articles and social-media rants make it difficult to eliminate the term altogether. The tolerance level seems to be at an all-time low as even the most insignificant issue arouses aggressive emotions from the youth on social media today.

‘I see my social media filled with overly emotional and at times, aggressive responses to every new political or social news. Many times I feel that such reactions are overstated and serve no purpose,’ said a student of Gargi College.

While according to Sakshi from Kamala Nehru College, “This is derogatory to assume because our generation is much more active and socially aware.”

The generation today is, undoubtedly, much more enlightened about the various ills and discrimination plaguing society. They speak up for their rights and tolerate no injustice. But, the term ‘snowflake’ is for those individuals who, masking this activism, use the opportunity to whine at every matter.

Cynicism and Nihilism are the ‘it’ words used by the generation today as optimism and hope seem to have exited their dictionaries. A large number of NGOs fuel this thinking by presenting an exaggerated dystopian worldview. Parenting is largely responsible for how a child will grow up to be. Thus, it becomes essential to see through the ‘snowflake’ traits of their children and inculcate tolerance and humility.

While, as much as this generation is believed to be intolerant, narcissistic and entitled, it becomes important to reflect that this term ‘generation snowflake’ is also coming out of older generations’ inability to accommodate this opinionated generation.

Instead of dismissing the current generation’s every argument as immature and branding them as ‘sensitive and intolerant young people’, people need to be more open to accepting this evolving generation who take no injustice. Also, the Gen Y and Z need to be more tolerant of opinions which don’t match theirs and decisions that don’t go their way.

On this ‘International Day of Tolerance’, let’s pledge to be more tolerant and accommodative of conflicting opinions and views and take dissent as disagreement and not disrespect.

Feature Image Credits: Scopio

Shreya Agrawal

DUB News

Jamia Millia Islamia Confiscates upto 700 Identity Cards

By DU Beat November 12, 2019

Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) administration confiscated up to 700 non-valid Identity cards in the past three months after various “outsiders” were reportedly entering the University.

The administration of JMI has confiscated over 700 non valid identity cards in the past three months. Since August, 726 ID cards have been confiscated by guards on campus after “outsiders” attempted to enter the University Campus. Waseem Ahmad Khan, the Chief proctor, told Hindustan Times that checking for non-valid ID cards has always been a practice at the University. But, as complaints of “increased presence of outsiders,” surged, the administration decided to implement stricter checking measures.

The security guards stationed on campus said that “outsiders” tried to enter the campus for various reasons, including theft, harassment, substance abuse, and creating nuisance in the University premises. They also said students from other universities were allegedly coming to JMI to create unrest, and build a political space. When asked how guards detect the false ID cards, security person Nisar Ahmad, who currently mans the University’s main gate and has been working at the Varsity for over two decades, told a national daily, “Their behaviour and body language is different. When they are asked for student ID cards, these people either cover the hologram on the card, or hide the photograph or just show the backside of the card,”

Reportedly, not all the IDs that were confiscated were fake. Some were also expired cards of former students who wanted to access the campus. “People want access to our libraries. The card also doubles as a library card. We have found instances of people accessing our libraries using expired cards,” said Assistant Proctor, Shakeel Ahmad.

Faizan, a second year B.A. (Honours) English student from JMI, told DU Beat, “Security Checking at Jamia was always a menace, and things get bizarre when you have as many as 23 gates to cover; but in recent times the varsity administration has reviewed it’s security seemingly, with continual and repeated security checks at every point which could be prompted by the outside interference and related instances of Id card misuse.”

In fact, students reported that it isn’t just stern checking of ID cards. Since the appointment of the new Vice Chancellor, Najma Akhtar, canteens too, are closed earlier than usual. This concern for safety was explained by the administration. Allegedly, men from nearby areas come to the Campus to peruse and sit in the canteens and parks. Taking into account the safety of girls in the University, and the fact that the girls’ hostel is on Campus, the administration felt that stringent security checks are essential for guaranteeing the safety of women.

Feature Image Credits: Collegeduniya

Shreya Juyal

Arts & Culture

Antaragni 2019: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy Conclude the Four Day Extravaganza

By DU Beat October 22, 2019

Antaragni’19, the annual cultural fest of IIT Kanpur was declared officially open on 17th October 2019. The four day fest culminated on 20th October 2019.

The fest began with an inaugration ceremony held in the Main Auditorium. The guest of honour was DGP Om Prakash Singh and District Governor DC Shukla, with Director of Institution and many distinguished IIT alumnus. This year marks the diamond jubilee of the institution, hence to add to the festivities many cultural performances were organised like a upbeat song amalgam sang by IIT students to welcome outstation students and a soulful classical rendition to highlight the grandeur of the fest. The opening ceremony also marked the collaboration between IIT Kanpur and Rotary Club of Kanpur North to make Antaragni’19 more socially responsible.

The first day of Antaragni commenced with an EDM night. Even the heat of Kanpur couldn’t stop people from enjoying the night to their fullest and sweating profusely. The pronite was started by Ravator. He took over the stage and made the crowd jump off their feet with some of the most amazing beats and drops. Later, DJ Bonka,took to the stage and lit up the stage with some amazing songs. They even played some Punjabi tunes along with EDM, a combination you don’t get to experience that often. At last, Giannobille came up and made the crowd grooved to the amazing beats. After the pronite, a DJ war took place at The Club in the Open Area Theatre. Artists performed their remixes to qualify through the prelims. The event had seven participants, out of which only five were to be qualified for the finals. The event saw about 200 people dancing off their feet with a lot of cheering and hooting. It was judged by Spin Guru Academy, best DJ and Music production academy of India. The participants won everyone’s heart by playing all kinds of music.

Day 2 of Antaragni 2019 began early and bright with a plethora of creative and competitive events lined up.The prelims for duo music event ‘Pair of Stage’ and prelims for the solo singing competition ‘Antargini Idol’ were organised, and saw participation from students across different colleges in different cities.

The venue for the prelims of Pair on Stage was shifted from L-16 to L-19, and saw about 44 mesmerising performances. About 15 pairs qualified for the finale. On the other hand the prelims for Anataragni Idol witnessed 150 participants out of whom only 20 would qualify for the final event. This competition was judged by Naman Sharma, the vocal coach at culture root foundation.

Mayanagri, the comprehensive quiz organised by Hindu Literary Events (HLE) with topics ranging from mythology to literature, and with different qualifier rounds including word games and pictionary was conducted along with a general quiz. HLE manging committee also conducted prelims for Aamna Saamna, a hindi group discussion competition. The participants were divided into random panels and topics were provided, each team was given a 2 minute preparation time. The Panel Discussion would then go on to reach a constructive conclusion.

The Anime Quiz saw Anime buffs enjoy answering questions posed to them. 8 teams , out if 18, qualified the prelims with 3 to 4 members in each team. 1st Round was Bounce, 2nd Round was the Pokemon Round, while the 3rd Round was the Giant Slayer.

Estampie, the prelims of Solo Western Dance competition followed by Jitterbug, the prelims of group western dance competition. Taking place in the main auditorium, the event was a full house. 46 dancers participated in the solo competition out of which only 8 qualified for the finals, and 17 teams partook in the Group Dance Competition, out of which only 7 made it to the next round. The event was judged by Ravi Verma, prominent dancer and Rahul Suryavanshi from Hip-Hop India championship. The dancers successfully lit up the stage and left the audience awestruck.

Synchronicity, the western rock band competition took place at the Synchro stage. A total of six bands from all over India took to stage with different kinds of genres. The performances had people dancing and banging their heads to the beats. The event was judged by Gautam Sarkar, owner of music label Ditto and Hickson V. George.

A creative writing event was conducted channeling the inner writers of participants. The event had about 15 teams of two people each. It consisted of two rounds. In round one, four words were displayed on the screen with one word every ten minutes and the participants had to write on that word. In the second round, participants were given five prompts and had to write on one of them, but it had a good twist. After halftime, the team had to exchange their pieces within them and continue writing in their teammates piece, which made the participants scratching their head. The event was judged by the English literary society of IIT Kanpur.

Comic Kaun participation vividly and was one of the most celebrated event with crowd more than 500 people sitting in one event. The event was platform for budding comic to show their sets and test them in front of such a large audience. The event organised with a great initiative seemed to miss the purpose of a platform because of the participants and the audience.

The third day of Antaragni had wonderful energy. A number of events took place simultaneously. Starting with Mela quiz, a quiz covering questions from Music, Entertainment, Literature etc. A total of 9 teams participated in the event, out of which all 9 of them made it to the finals. On the occasion of the Korean Culture Day, the quiz had a separate session covering that as well. The quiz was conducted by prominent quiz masters Somnath Chanda and Anindita Roy.

Not just quizzes, the day also witnessed some other entertaining events. Antaragini Idol, The prelims for the Solo Music competition took place at lecture hall 8. The contest had 150 on the spot participants, harmonising beautifully. It witnessed Naman Sharma, The vocal and instrumental coach of Cultural Roots foundation as the judge. Only 30 people qualified through the prelims for the finals to take place on 20th October.

Drishtikon, The Hindi extempore taking place at Lecture hall 2 added some traditional values to the day. The participants were shown a random picture and were given 30 seconds to analyse to speak on it for 2 minutes in Hindi. They were judged on the basis of choice of words, hand gestures and presence of mind. Out of a total of 35 participants, 15-20 were expected to qualify for the finals. Famous editor Arun Dev and Professor of Humanity and Social Science Department of IIT Kanpur, A.R.K. Verma judged the event.

The fest had supervised another quiz, TLC quiz as the name suggests, covering questions about Travel, Culture and Lifestyle. The questions were displayed on a screen and the team had to give on the spot answers. Correct answers gained a team 10 points, judged by the Quizmaster, Anandita Roy. There were 52 questions comprising of 14 questions from each of the 3 categories. The event was a tie between two teams, so it witnessed a tie-breaker round which was won by Vallari Srivastava who took the first position home.

Another extempore came about called the Jam Finale. The Jam masters supervises the event and gives the participants 3 words to speak on them. The event had about 9 participants and they were judged on the basis of grammatical errors and hand gestures. The event was highly informative.

The Stage Play finals took place at L7. Six teams qualified through the prelims and made it to the finale. Teams gave a splendid performance with beautiful storylines. The event lasted for 7 hours and every team had a unique concept. Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi won the first prize, whereas the second prize was won by the Dramatics society of IIT Kanpur itself. Miranda house, University of Delhi took home the third prize.

Day three of Antaragni, IIT Kanpur also witnessed the dance events- Tour De Force, group street dance event and Estampie, the solo dance battle event adjudged by Rahul Suryavanshi, Hip Hop india champion and Ravi varma, B-Fab Crew.

8 teams participated in the Tour De Force. There were two rounds- the performance round and the battle. Satyawati College emerged as the winner while the second position was given to Delhi Technical University.

Estampie held 3 rounds, the performance round out of which four participants qualified, the two two-way one-on-one battles, and the finalists then fought a three-way battle. Rahul Rao, from Outbreakers, ARSD College emerged as the winner of Estampie.

Mr. and Ms. Antaragni, delayed by two hours, began at the Main Auditorium in the campus and witnessed a large audience. 8 participants fought tooth and nail in four rounds- Introduction, Talent, Improvisation, and Interview, to win the title. Judged by Christeena Biju, Miss India Finalist from Odisha, and Abhishek Dubey, a Splitsvilla and Roadies contestant, the event saw a lot of heckling of the participants by the rowdy crowd. Vikhyat Singh and Jivika Wadhwa from Delhi Technical University won the title of Mr. and Ms. Antaragni respectively.

Lokalz, a K-Pop band graced the stage at Antaragni in association with the Korean Cultural Festival to celebrate a Korean Cultural Day on Day three of Antaragni 2019. Their energetic performance, even though delayed, energised the audience.

Day four, the last day, of Antaragni 2019 was full of event finale’s and wild spirit and energy. It commenced with quiz based on the world of Cinema and movies. The quiz consisted of a total of 35 questions from Movies. The quiz had two rounds in which the participants had the liberty to ask for hints. The first round had 25 participants out of which only 6 qualified for the second. The event covered every aspect of cinema from Bollywood to Japanese movies and from the 70s to the 21st century. The event was supervised by quizmaster, Anindita Roy.

In today’s world of westernization, when it’s getting harder and harder to stay in touch with your roots, Antaragni conducted Kavyanjali, a Hindi Poetry Event. The event invited online registrations through samples which had a count of almost 175 participants. The samples were then shortlisted and 20 contestants made it to the final round. Judged by Manglesh Dabral, prominent contemporary Indian poet and winner of Sahitya Akademi Award, Pankaj Chaturvedi, winner of Bharat Bhushan Smriti Puraskar and Geet Chaturvedi, winner of Bharat Bhushan Agarwal Award. Poetry enthusiast had filled the venue and people poured their heart out through poetry.

The finals for Antaragni Idols, Solo Music Competition took place at lecture hall 14. The venue was filled with a beautiful and soothing aura. The audience was full of music enthusiasts and witnessed the participants performing all kinds of music, making it diverse. The competition was judged by Naman Sharma and Akansha Grover, Vocal coaches at Cultural Roots foundation. 16 finalists took to the stage and sang their hearts out for the title. Apart from the singing abilities, participants were also judged on the basis of their knowledge of classical music.

The most robust event of the day was the finals of Jitterbug, the Western Dance Competition. After the prelims of 17 teams, 7 teams qualified for the finals. The event was hosted by none other than G.D. Suyal. Judged by Rahul Suryavanshi, Gold Medalist at Dance World Group, Canada and head teacher at Korean culture Dance Academy and Ravi Verma, the founder of VFab, the event was a full house. There were two rounds and the teams successfully lit up the stage. The audience didn’t stop cheering which showed their excitement level.

The finals for Steet Play event, adjudged by Mr. Anjan Srivastava, Indian film, television and stage actor, and Indian People’s Theatre Association affliant, of which he remained Vice-President for several years, and Mr. Darshan Jariwala, Indian film, television and stage actor who the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for Gandhi, My Father. 9 teams performed out of which, The production ‘Dharam Sankat Mein’ by Fursat Mandali, the dramatics club of IIT Kanpur was placed first at the Nukkad Natak Finale on the last day of Antaragni 2019 ‘Tujhe Kya Naam Du’ by Anubhuti from Sri Venkateswara College placed second. Aayam from Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology, and Dramanomics from College of Vocational Studies were placed third and fourth respectively. Despite being apprehensive of giving out individual results, the judges on deman by the organisers gave out individual acting prizes. Consolation prize was given to Dadi from KMV, while the third and second position were won by members of Shivaji College’s dramatic society, while a member of Lady Irwin College won the first position.

Kavi Sammelan at Antaragni witnessed Ankita Singh, Madhyam Saxena, and Aman Akshar deliver their poetry on social issues, current scenarios, and other topics with passion and grace. The audience at Open Air Theatre enjoyed the poetry with immense enthusiasm and cheer.

The Auditorium in the evening witnessed popular performances by the musical duo on Sacophone and piano Jerry and the Pelicansystem, and the immensely celebrated comedian Karunesh Talwar. The packed audi was impressed by both these talented artiststs, enjoyed music with the first, and laughed along jokes with the second.

The popular musical trio, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy closed Antaragni 2019 with their strong, energetic, and eclectic performance. The audience danced to the tunes of their famous songs including Zinda and Gallan Goodiyan.

Avni Dhawan

Sakshi Arora

Chhavi Bambha

Arts & Culture

Mood Indigo’19 Multicity Eliminations Conclude at NSUT

By DU Beat October 14, 2019

The Multicity eliminations for Mood Indigo’19, annual cultural fest of IIT Bombay took place at Netaji Subhas University of Technology (NSUT) on 12th and 13th October, 2019.

With great anticipation and excitement, the first day of Mood Indigo’19 Multicity eliminations was on for a great start. Multicity eliminations were held at Netaji Subhash University of Technology (NSUT) for IIT Bombay’s fest, with innumerable teams and societies, from all over Delhi and nearby cities, participating in the prelim rounds in Delhi, to grab the opportunity to compete at one of the most sought-after fests.

The Day 1 saw a lot of competition and some wonderful performances. The bars and expectations were set high.The level of talent and rigorous eliminations makes one only wonder how much more will we see in the fest to follow, given the number of contestants that were hand-picked from Delhi. Being one of the eleven of these eliminations.

The day was quite lovely with the lawns of NSUT, the venue being filled with loud drumbeats and louder slogans.It was the street play teams warming up for the coming prelims. The competition was tight with 34 teams competing for a spot.The main auditorium had various events lined up beginning with Conchord, the group based acapella competition that had eight colleges as participants, followed by Singing the Indigos, the solo western singing competition, and MI Idol, solo Indian singing competition.

Aagaaz, the Street play competition, organised for Mood Indigo, the fest of IIT Bombay witnessed a tough competition among 35 teams. The judges of the competition were Swati Pandey and Sharad Chaudhary. This competition had several impactful performances. The unequivocal energy, intensity and moving street plays, left the audience in an awe. Each team put forward their best foot and highlighted issues affecting the society today and from time immemorial. Jesus and Mary Collegelead by DivyaNunhoi Sharma bagged the first position followed by Venkateshwara college lead byAryaman Sethi and Atma Ram Sanatan College under Tushar Bahirwani.

Conchord which was judged by Mr Diyatom Deb and Ms. Aswathy had the winning college LSRperforming covers of “Lost in the World” by Kanye West, “Berlesk” by Christina Aguilera and “Shrutika”which was led by ShilpikaBuragohain. The second place was bagged by Jesus and Mary College headedby Khushi Pallavi.

The solo competitions which began with western songs had the same judges with around competitors. The Indigos saw LSR bag both first and second positions with Gina Garbyal being first and Shilpika Buragohain second. Followed by Jesus and Mary headed by Khushi Pallavi.

This was followed by a felicitation ceremony for the judges and the Indian solo singing competition that MI Idol judged by Mr. Jamil Hasanand and Mr. Yatin Arora. Deen Dayal Upadhyay College secured the first and the second positions. First being Kushagra Dudeja and Second Nityaa Ramesh.

Ms and Mr Mood Indigo Delhi, as a part of IIT Bombay’ fest was also held. The judges for this event were Mallaica Chatterjee and MC Snub. The competition involved a showcase of talents. Each of the 16 participants fought hard to bag the title, with talents like singing, rapping or dancing.

Jennifer Dhupar, of Jesus and Mary College, and Sachin Rager, of Swami Shraddhanand College, were awarded with the title of Ms and Mr Mood Indigo Delhi. They will now head over to Mumbai for the finals at IIT Bombay.

Rap Battle competition, Mi’nem, was held between 16 participants, competing to win the title and get selected to go to Mumbai. The judges of this competition were MC Snub, Tez Bhai and Arjun Arora. The competition brought to light talented individuals from a multitude of colleges and universities. Each performance filled with immense emotions, from one’s life experiences to the political environment, a myriad of stories poured out. Aman Mishra bagged the first position and Abhi Baisla bagged the second.

Day 2 of Mood Indigo’s Multicity round began at around 10 AM on Sunday. The elimination rounds opened with poetry slam competition inside the mini auditorium of Netaji Subhash University of Technology. Five participants from Keshav Mahavidyalay, Rukmani Devi college and IIT,Delhi poured heart and soul while reciting their poetries in hopes of qualifying for the final show in Mumbai. Juveriya Khan from Keshav Mahavidyalay who performed a heart wrenching poetry on mental health and suicide made her way to Mood Indigo ’19. Next in line was a stand-up comedy elimination round called Humour Us where five contestants exhibited their quirk and wit Madhur Virli from IIT, Delhi stood out as the sole qualifier.

Simultaneously, three dance events were happening in the hall area of administrative block of the university. It started with Indigo Saga, a thematic group dance competition where eight teams from various colleges of Delhi grooved on contemporary music. Wearing similar attires and synchronizing steps on every beat, young performers charmed the event with mesmerising dances. LSR team led by Anjali Kaushik and IIT Delhi team led by Manan Patel paved their way for the finals. Indigo Saga was followed by Desi Beats, a Bollywood style dance competition and Beat the Street, hip hop street dance event. LSR, Zakir Hussain College and Motilal Nehru grabbed 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd positions respectively in Desi Beat while Shaheed Bhagat Singh College and ADGITM qualified in Beat the Street.

All the selected teams and individuals from Delhi will be competing against people from other states in Mood Indigo’s 49^th edition scheduled between 26^th and 29^th December in IIT- Bombay.

Stephen Mathew

Shivani Dadhwal

Priyanshu

Six Policemen Booked For Ill-Treating Faculty of Law Student

By DU Beat September 3, 2019

Delhi Police has filed a case against six policemen from Adarsh Nagar police station for allegedly ill-treating a third-year law student from University of Delhi (DU) – Faculty of Law.

A case has been filed against six policemen including an SHO and five other officers of Adarsh Nagar police station after a third-year law student complained of an alleged ill-treatment.

Vijayanta Arya, Deputy Commissioner of Delhi Police (North West) said that an FIR has been registered on the complaint of Pramod Kumar under SC/ST Act and other relevant sections. Investigation has been initiated in the case.

As reported by The Hindu, Pramod Kumar, in his complaint mentioned that on 25th August, around 1:15 p.m., he received a call from Adarsh Nagar police station informing him that three persons including his nephew Amar had been arrested. He alleged that when he reached the station, the police “not only tortured, thrashed and abused him but even used casteist remarks”, Delhi Police said.

He further complained that the police “hit at his private parts” when he inquired the reasons of the arrest of his nephew and 2 other people.

Kumar’s nephew Amar is an accused in a case of Extortion and Arms Act. According to PTI sources, Amar was also earlier booked in March 2019 under POCSO Act and had gone to jail. He was out on bail.

As the news of police’s reported mistreatment reached students, several students from Faculty of Law gathered outside the Adarsh Nagar police station on Saturday night, to protest against the harassment and support Pramod.

Atul Jatav, a student from Faculty of Law, mentioned in his Facebook post that Pramod was “brutally tortured by the SHO and his staff”.

“Riding on their Brahminical masculinity, they attacked him with iron rods targeting his private parts and at the same time lashing casteist slurs against him saying ‘Yeh chamar log law sikhayenge (People from the lower caste will teach us law)‘. It was a classic show of dalit atrocity, but this time by police itself, who are duty bound for the safety and security of these very people”, he wrote.

Amarjeet Kumar Singh, In-charge of All India Students’ Association (AISA) – Faculty of Law said in his press release, “We the students of the University of Delhi Faculty of Law made a gherao of Adarsh Nagar police station from the evening of 31st August 2019 till the morning of 1st September 2019, the police refused to register the FIR, then we sat on dharna there. After five hours of negotiation, the police agreed to register the FIR and finally the FIR has been registered at 4:15 AM on 1st September”, he added.

Singh further accused of alleged discrepancies in the FIR. He said, “There are discrepancies in the FIR. Para (3a) in which time and date of occurrence of offences (is mentioned) and in Para 7 in which the details of ‘known/suspect/unknown accused’ has been kept blank to screen the offenders from legal punishment”

He ended the press release by saying that they “will study the FIR thoroughly and will decide their future course of legal action in the matter as per law”.

Feature Image Credits: AISA- Faculty of Law

Shreya Agrawal

DU Clashes with MCD over Private Building’s Construction

By DU Beat August 28, 2019

The University of Delhi (DU) has come face to face with the Delhi Government with regards to the construction of a 39 storey private building in North Campus.

As per a report by the India Times, DU has written a letter to the Centre, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), and Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Anil Baijal, demanding to stop the construction work immediately.

In the year 2001, The Delhi Government had acquired three acres of land from the Ministry of Defence to construct the metro line. Only an acre was used and the rest two acres were sold to a private builder in order to build a 39 storey building.The University believes that the construction of private property would lead to great repercussions for the varsity as it threatens its educational space and can also pose a threat in terms of safety.

In 2018, varsity had written to the Ministry of Urban Affairs and Housing, lead by Mr. Durga Shankar Mishra requesting for restraining North DMC from granting any sanction to the Group Housing Projects of Young Builders Private Limited, near Vishwavidyalaya Metro station.

Delhi University’s Officer on Special Duty Mr. Vipin Tiwari talked to India Today, about this move. He stated that he had witnessed the construction of the building behind the metro station.

According to him, this poses a great threat to the University space as it’s a private building and is very close to not only four girl’s hostels but also the office of the Lieutenant Governor and the DRDO office. The construction was not stopped despite various complains, not only that it will also be the tallest building around if constructed. It poses a great threat as this a high-security zone.

He also added that this also violates the three points of Clause 11 of the Delhi Master Plan 2021. Various political parties also showed their dissent against this move. The Mayor of Delhi Mr. Avatar Singh responded by stating that a letter requesting the clearing of doubts raised has been sent to the Governor. “All at being fault shall be persecuted”, he added.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

Stephen Mathew

SFI Calls for Left Alliance for DUSU Elections

By DU Beat August 28, 2019

The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) gave an open call for an alliance of all “Left-Progressive” student organisations to fight the upcoming student union polls together.

Students of the University of Delhi (DU) will elect their representatives in the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) on 12^th September, which means the various student parties are currently campaigning.

The SFI, amidst this, has given a call for a “broader left coalition” to fight the upcoming DUSU polls. The party gave a lengthy rationale for this call. “We only have our solidarity to resist the politics of money, muscle and arrogance,” the SFI’s statement read. While asserting that the various left organisations have agreed to come together on a common minimum programme, the statement admits that “There can be some confusion flowing from how do we define the progressive forces which can lead to various conceptions of unity also.” Calling for a “unity which would electorally reflect the united struggles of the progressive students in Delhi University,” the statement denounced “the short-cut of the opportunistic electoral alliance by compromising the ideals of progressive student movements”. The statement also said that the alliance would fulfil “aspirations and demands” of DU students to see a “grand left alliance in DU on the lines of JNU.”

Speaking to DU Beat, Sumit Kataria, Vice President of SFI Delhi, said that there are two aspects behind this call given by his party – one, the electoral calculations; two, regarding campus protests. Saying that the SFI and the All India Students’ Association (AISA) – “historically the two major left organisations” in DU – have counted on a diverse voter base, Mr. Kataria pointed out that both parties have had certain colleges as their respective strongholds, and that it would make sense “to combine this influence electorally” to have a higher vote share to go against the incumbent Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). From the voters’ perspective, he said that many students who support both parties “get disillusioned due to the lack of an electoral alliance and end up not voting for anyone.”

Secondly, regarding political activity on campus, Mr. Kataria says that the left parties have organised joint protests on multiple issues. However, he alleged that some of these organisations had taken “sectarian positions” when it came to the DUSU elections.

Has the SFI made similar calls in the past as well? Did it receive a positive response? Mr. Kataria says that while the AISF and the All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO) have been contesting the DUSU polls along with the SFI as a united panel for the last three years, this panel is incomplete “without some left organisations who have adamantly stuck to their sectarian positions.”

However, parties such as the ABVP seem to be much ahead in the campaigning department. The party has already released a list of potential candidates and can be seen rallying across the campus. Similarly, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) officially launched in campaign through a press conference yesterday – 27^th August.

On the other hand, the left parties are trying to come to a common ground for an alliance. It cannot be denied that the ABVP and the NSUI seem to be strategically ahead of the left parties. Mr. Kataria agrees. “We should (have done) that (alliance-making) earlier,” he said. However, he also added that the names of the candidates released by the ABVP were only probables and not the final names. “Discussion on alliance is going on,” he said.

What about the response? Mr. Kataria told us that AISF, AIDSO, and AISA were supposedly discussing the matter among their respective organisations. “Still, AISF most probably and AIDSO will join but from AISA we have not got any satisfactory reply,” he said.

Sources say that the AISA is also closing in on finalising and announcing its candidates for the polls.

We contacted the representatives of ABVP, AISA, and NSUI for detailed responses, but they did not comment by the time of the publication of this article.

Feature Image credits – Jaishree Kumar for DU Beat

Prateek Pankaj
[email protected]

Fee Hike in SGTB Khalsa College

By DU Beat August 28, 2019

Students of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur (SGTB) Khalsa College protest against an abrupt increase in fees by the authorities.

SGTB Khalsa, established in 1951, is one of the oldest and most prestigious colleges for Science, Commerce, and Arts in India.

Unlike other colleges affiliated with the University of Delhi (DU), the fee structure of SGTB Khalsa is relatively expensive. According to the sources, there has been a sudden fee hike this year ranging from INR 3,000 for Arts courses to INR 9,000 for Science Courses. Science students already pay additional fees in the name of labs and it has been increased again. Students are also charged in the name of university development fund, college development fund, maintenance fund, and overall development fund. Further, they are also expected to pay some extra amount as examination fees, which isn’t required in other colleges. Students are convinced that this is nothing but different ways by authorities of extracting money from them. This hike seems unjustified when there is no upgradation in the facilities provided by the college.

The source also revealed that apart from this, the accommodation facility inside the campus is also very expensive. The college hostels have skyrocketing fee structure of INR 71,000 per semester which is almost INR 1.5 lakhs per year. On the other hand, in other colleges, hostel fees are practically negligible or genuinely affordable.

According to Rhythm Nagpal, a student from SGTB Khalsa College, “The easily affordable fee structure is one of the reasons why Delhi University is a dream for students. We worked hard in high school to get here and this unjust behavior makes our efforts seem worthless. This hike is pointless and makes us question the authorities as it’s extremely unfair on their part. What will be the difference between private and government colleges then? The increment that is done gradually over years now takes place suddenly in just a year with no improvement in the facilities provided to us, the college needs to have a reality check and gain a perspective”.

Ravnoor Kaur, another student from SGTB Khalsa College said “The fees of DU doesn’t seem a lot and makes us think that a hike of Rs 3,000 hardly makes a difference but DU has students from all over the nation who are accommodated in PGs and are paying abundant of rent, which is also increased every year at an alarming rate. The administration should think of those students and think what impact this unjust action would have on them and their families”

Feature Image Credits: Shiksha

Avni Dhawan