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Night Vigil held by Pinjra Tod disrupted by ABVP members

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Pinjra Tod

Pinjra Tod is an autonomous student-run collective effort aiming to ensure a secure and non-gender discriminatory University for all women students. They claim to be battling the university which they believe reproduces patriarchal and casteist structures by constantly seeking to regulate and control women students’ lives, mobility and sexuality through a wide range of mechanisms. On 23rd September 2016, Pinjra Tod organized a ‘Night March’ in Vijay Nagar, North Campus which aimed on reclaiming their right on the streets which they are forbidden to visit beyond their oppressive hostel and PG curfews. Pinjra Tod’s mission stated, “this time we are out on the streets to sit on a vigil against sexual harassment and rent extortion in PG’s, to ask for hostels that should be built for us, for that room that is ours no matter what time we return, for the collective spirit that threatens this patriarchal university so much”.

The march took place through the many lanes of Delhi University’s North Campus on that night in a peaceful and organized manner, after which the group collectively gathered at the Vijay Nagar tea point to begin their night vigil. As they sat on the vigil, the Pinjra Tod members put up a play which represented their daily struggles as woman in the university which was lauded by all the viewers at the tea point. All was said to be going well, when Satender Awana (ex-DUSU President from ABVP) arrived at Vijay Nagar along with his companions and placed themselves amongst the peaceful night vigil by Pinjra Tod. Their arrival followed a range of smirking, laughing and derogatory remarks by ABVP towards the protestors, it was also noted that these men took videos of protestors on their mobile phones with lewd hand gestures in display of their male entitlement over the female protestors. At the end of the play, the men from ABVP started chanting slogans of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai!’ along with other provocative gestures towards the women which included flashing a ‘hundred rupee note’ at a protestor. On being challenged, the man caught hold of the Pinjra Tod activist’s wrists and kept tightening his grip, while attempting to corner her with his friends. This episode created a commotion at the protest area, which eventually cleared out as the men from ABVP left the spot to the activists of Pinjra Tod. This incident created an uproar amongst the female students of Delhi University towards the discriminatory nature of ABVP’s treatment towards Pinjra Tod’s vigil. In retaliation, Pinjra Tod is organizing another protest demonstration against ABVP on 20th October in the Faculty of Arts.

We were in conversation with a Pinjra Tod member who was present that night, she shared with us how the chanting of ‘Hum Bharat ki Mata nahi banenge’ by Pinjra Tod in response to ABVP was in order to instigate a feeling within these men about how women want ‘azaadi’ from these patriarchal structures of conformity which prescribes an ‘ideal woman’. She elaborated upon how the usage of lewd words by the men was an attempt towards character assassination of female students of Delhi University, and questioned their claim to be ‘student parties’ if they cannot treat the students within this university with due respect. The character assassination of women staying out ‘at night’ was an indication towards how these women are of low moral code and therefore do not have a place in their ‘savarna’ politics which is a bend towards casteism in student politics within DU. She also spoke of how the night vigil brought together all the activists of Pinjra Tod into a sense of solidarity towards reclaiming the spaces within the university which they are entitled to be in, as students.

Joyee Bhattacharya

joyeebhat@gmail.com

 

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Bazinga

ABVP to Fly Students to Mumbai for the Coldplay Concert

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To get a chance at winning the coveted Coldplay concert tickets, contact du2coldplay@gmail.com.
Having been elected to three of the four seats that constitute the DUSU panel, ABVP has decided to carry out a gesture of gratitude towards the students of Delhi University. The party will distribute 100 tickets to the Coldplay concert to be held in Mumbai in November. However, that’s not all. The party will also fund the travel and accommodation expenses of these lucky students.

Wondering how these 100 are to be selected? Firstly, bad luck for those who haven’t voted for ABVP. In order to be selected, one has to email a picture or a link to a post to substantiate that they’ve voted for the party. In order to explain this hazy guideline, ABVP spokesperson Hirana Kamar has said, “Interested students have to email a picture or a link to a post to prove that they’ve voted for ABVP. It could be anything from a picture of a student wearing an ABVP t-shirt prior to the elections or a facebook post that the student had posted earlier, advocating their support for the party.” The email can be sent at du2coldplay@gmail.com.

The party has decided to take this move to rebuff accusations that they only give away freebies before the elections to lure students to vote for them. Wondering how they’re collecting the funds for this expedition? Well, most of the Coldplay concert tickets are free! People are required to undertake some sort of community work backed by NGOs to get them. So, ABVP workers will themselves carry out community work so as to earn the coveted tickets. Like ABVP party worker, Mameha Nagari had earlier declared, the party works for #girlpower and not #musclepower. So, they will be helping a NGO called “Naari Shakti” that supports women students who’ve been harassed by party workers during elections. Additionally, they will also be working with rag-pickers by helping them clean up the campus and subsequently collect income for them.

As for the travel and accommodation costs, the party will be paying for them by using a fraction of the funds that they’ve saved up this year by adhering to the Lyngdoh Commission which states the maximum permitted expenditure for each candidate as Rs. 5000.

According to DUSU President, Amar Tripathi, “We are not a party that attracts votes before elections by bribing students. We do not make hollow promises, but actually materialise them. This is just a tiny gesture of gratitude towards our voters. We do not believe in alienating them from University politics after the elections are over.”

Photo Credits: www.indiatoday.com

Swareena Gurung
swareenag@dubeat.com

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Miranda House

ABVP gets questioned intensely at the manifesto reading in Miranda House

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Miranda House organised the manifesto reading session of their students union as well as the DU students union elections, on 6th of September. Students showed overwhelming support for All India Students Association (AISA) and Students Federation of India while ABVP was questioned regressively.

The manifesto reading witnessed a huge turnout. Candidates standing for the post of MH students union read out their Manifestoes and answered a plethora of questions from students.

This was followed by manifesto readings of the Presidential candidates for DUSU from various parties. Kawalpreet Kaur, AISA’s presidential candidate hit a chord with the students and received an overwhelming support.  She was questioned later for the allegations of rape against Anmol Ratan, one of AISA’s members from JNU. She condemned the act and appreciated the fact that their party took a strong position against one of their own and had even requested immediate arrest.

DU-ABVP’s president, Abhishek Verma came next in the line to read out his party’s manifesto. The audience starting pitching questions at him as soon as he took to the podium. In fact, the functional college union had to control and convince students into listening to ABVP’s manifesto first.

As soon as the ABVP manifesto was over, students started questioning the party’s ideology and it’s position on the issues of dissent, debate and especially gender.  Allegations such as instances of eve teasing, the harassment of two Quint Journalist and Pinjra Tod activists by members of ABVP, among others were directed against the party.

SFI’s presidential candidate, Navjeet Punia, who is also a student at Miranda House, addressed the audience later and was received well.

Polling for both DUSU and MHSU elections will be held in Miranda House on 9th of September.

DU Beat wishes all the candidates a very Good Luck!

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Interviews

In conversation with DUSU Vice President, Priyanka Chhawri

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After days of anticipation and a rigorous electoral campaign, ABVP’s Vice Presidential candidate Priyanka Chhawri emerged victorious. A graduate in Mathematics from Lakshmibai College , University of Delhi, and currently pursuing her M.A in Buddhist Studies from Dept. Of Buddhist Studies, DU, from discussing her journey into politics to her plans of bringing changes in the campuse, we got chatting with her about her new found role.

Excerpts:

DUB: What motivated you to pursue your candidature in the DUSU elections? How did your journey into student level politics begin?

Priyanka Chhawri: I am a student activist from the past five years and it all started when I appeared for CATE entrance and saw a group of students protesting at the arts faculty against the DU administration. The protest was led by ABVP.I was so influenced by the student leaders that it occurred to me that I must also be there one day! So when I got admission in LBC,  I joined ABVP and became an active member! I saw a great change in me in these five years. ABVP groomed me into a more confident and responsible person and with time I attained the leadership skills that were needed to contest in DUSU elections and now, here I am, as the DUSU Vice President.

DUB:  What are your some of the key areas that you are personally looking forward to focusing upon in your tenure?

PC: Personally , I would focus more on introducing societies for blind and physically handicapped students, constructing pathways for the same, giving North Campus a new look by putting the map of the campus near metro and recognised places, creating awareness session about the women safety app launched by ABVP – ‘I FEEL SAFE’, in every college, providing health cards,making medical rooms functional in every college and providing the facility of printed mark sheets be issued to students after every semester.

DUB:  The DUSU polls saw some lavish campaigning this time again. What is your take on the guidelines by Lyngdoh Committee and National Green Tribunal about the budget restrictions and green campaigning? Do you think they are realistic targets that can be met?

PC: I think it’s not feasible to contest DUSU election in just 5ooo Rupees. How unrealistic it is, that the same amount is allowed to both contest college elections and DUSU? From the last four years , the Lyngdoh Committee hasn’t been reviewed and it’s time that we look into this matter.So, as an officer bearer, I will certainly put forward this issue. As far as paper usage is concerned, it is reduced as compared to last two years but yes it needs to end and just be limited to wall of democracy and advertising sites.

DUB: Last year saw DUSU office bearers being involved in some controversy or the other and accountability and work transparency was also an issue. How do you seek to tackle that?

PC: ABVP led DUSU is very committed to work for the student welfare and we have started working the day we joined our office. We submitted a memorandum to the DSW concerning the issues of students and currently we are working to combat the recent mass failure of the LL.B students regarding which, we have given a letter to the VC. This DUSU panel is dedicated to work for the student community and we have started our work positively !

DUB: NSUI has alleged discrepancy in the voting process and after a hunger strike, they are now planning to move to the court. What is your take on this whole matter?

PC: DU is a democratic university and it’s NSUI’s democratic right to get their doubts clear but I think by doing this they are questioning the mandate of the students. I think they should accept the decision of the students and move on and raise students issues rather than sitting and challenging the choice of students.

DUB: Having gone through the entire process of filing nominations, becoming the final candidate to actually winning, is there anything that you wish to change (procedural or otherwise) in the way DUSU elections unfold?

PC: From filing the nomination to actually contesting DUSU was a great experience. The administration has been very cautious during the scrutiny. But, an incident that seemed like a failure to me was when a candidate who filled the nomination was not present during scrutiny. It should become mandatory for all the candidates to be present during that process.

DUB: DUSU elections have been known to provide the country with some of the finest ministers we have had at the helm of authority in the past. Do you see yourself there? Do you plan to continue in politics?

PC: As of now , I will be working for the students and continue as a student activist.

DUB: Any interesting anecdote you would like to share with us that happened during the election process?

PC: Yes. Once I was delivering a speech in Shaheed Bhagat Singh College. I was in such a hurry (because it was the last day to campaign and I had to cover many colleges) that I forgot the last part and garbled some words and ran away. The students found it so funny and they said, ‘Hum samajh gaye aapki bhaavna’.

DUB: In a line, how would you define your motto for this year as a DUSU office bearer?

PC: I want this DUSU panel to be a medium of exposure for the student community. I will work on involving more students in every activity that is organised by DUSU!

Interviewed by Riya Chhibber

riyac@dubeat.com

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DUB News

SRCC Professor alleges attack by DUSU President

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A physical education professor of SRCC on Monday alleged that he was attacked by DUSU president Satender Awana, a claim that has been refuted by the student leader. The professor, who’s been identified as Dr. Vineet Mehta, was on duty in the college when Awana, along with a group of students approached the department office to meet the teacher in charge of the college swimming pool.

Dr. Mehta claims that Awana came to meet Dr. Kuljeet Kaur, in charge of the pool committee, on the directions of the college principal, and when the group entered the office, Awana started using expletives against the professor. As Dr. Kaur was not in the office, the student leader asked for her phone number upon which the professor showed his denial and was consequently thrashed.

College authorities allege that the Police were initially reluctant to register an FIR for the fear of a possible backlash from the students. Only when roughly 70 teachers marched to the Maurice Nagar police station and a delegation met the DCP was the FIR registered on 14th afternoon. Copies were also sent to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Civil Lines, and the Commissioner of Police.

Awana claims that a group of students had approached him before to request a reduction in the swimming pool fee for non – SRCC students from Rs 200 to Rs 20, the standard fee for SRCC students, upon which he took up the issue with the principal. The principal directed him to the physical education department, where, denying allegations of physically assaulting the professor, he claims to have had just an ‘argument’.

The principal has assured prompt representation to the Vice Chancellor and the advisor to DUSU and has also sought legal advice on the issue. The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) has decided to stage a protest against the student leader today to demand action from the university authorities.

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Campus Central

Semester Exam evaluation stalled as DUTA protest continues

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In a recent press release, the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) has decided to continue its boycott of the recent semester exams evaluation till 16th June 2016, when the General Body (GB) will convene again to review the situation. The protest is in response to a notification by the UGC giving nod to the implementation of the  Academic Performance Indicators (API) system and other amendments that DUTA calls ‘retrogressive’ and an ‘attack’ on the higher education system of the country. This is a setback for the graduating students of the varsity as this has put on hold the post-graduate admissions to the varsity and might even stall the declaration of the semester exam results. Calling the gazette notification ‘draconian’, the DUTA has gone far to claim that if the government fails to roll back the notification, it might consider boycotting the admission process as well. The API system allows for teachers to be evaluated on the basis of students’ performance, a manoeuvre DUTA has called ‘unreasonable’.  Given the increase in the working hours of assistant professors from 16 hours to 24 cumulative hours and of associate professors from 14 to 22 cumulative hours, the DUTA claims that such a move will result in the loss of over 4,000 jobs and will work against the interests of both teachers and students. The Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), in contrast to its previous position has demanded an immediate rollback of the notification and urged the teaching community to ‘resume evaluation work immediately’ to avoid compromise of the students. Agreeing to one of the demands of the protesting teachers, the UGC, on 10th June 2016, decided to set up a 5 member pay revision committee for academic staff. The committee will be chaired by UGC member Prof. V S Chauhan and will submit its report in six months. With no end in sight, the UGC has claimed that the system will bring ‘more flexibility’ to the academic environment and ruled out any claims of loss of jobs due to it. Image Credits: www.tribuneindia.com   Sidharth Yadav sidharthy@dubeat.com]]>

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DUB News

ABVP protests against Prof. Saibaba’s rejoining, DUTA condemns move

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Ram Lal Anand Professor G.N. Saibaba, who was suspended from the university, following his arrest by Maharashtra Police in 2014 for alleged maoist links, recently became a centre of attack after his visit to the college. The English professor, who is out on bail, went to the college to submit a letter where he allegedly became a target of anger and protest by members of ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad).

While Professor Saibaba might be hopeful of a fresh start, his request for reinstatement has invited mixed reactions. A group of students, led by the members of the ABVP, strongly oppose the professor’s rejoining unless he is cleared of all the charges by the court. Talking to us, ABVP’s Delhi State Secretary, Bharat Khatana, said, “Saibaba has been suspended by DU and despite that he is coming to the college and addressing students. We believe that unless he gets a clean chit from the court and the Governing Body (GB) of the college, he must not be allowed to enter the college premises.”

Despite the relentless protests and public bashing, DUTA strongly condemned the attack on Dr. Saibaba. DUTA President Nandita Narain, while emphasising on the lack of security for the professor, told us, “Had it not been for the protection given by some faculty members and hundreds of college students, Dr. Saibaba could have suffered grievous injury. The DUTA expresses grave concern that the college administration as well as the local police did not prevent this violent intrusion, even though similar incidents had taken place over the last few days. The DUTA appeals to the VC for his immediate intervention to prevent this breakdown of governance in this university maintained college.”

Sharing the same sentiment, Narendra Pande, Associate Professor from the Department of History and a colleague of Saibaba told us, ” There are two important things which we must keep in mind. One is that, rule of law must prevail and second that,any suspended employ has a right to approach his workplace. We met the chairman of the Governing Body of the college, Mr. R.M. Kohli today and he will soon foresee the situation himself. The Staff Association, which is the teacher’s collective body of the college, passed a resolution with consensus to expedite the functioning of the one—member committee which has been formed by the college to look into the issue.”

The Staff Association plan to impress upon the Chairman of the Governing Body as well as the Principal of the college to take steps in order to stop the breakdown of normal functioning of the college and the creation of a conducive and safe environment for teaching. The Supreme Court had earlier this month granted the professor bail on the pretext that Maharashtra government had been “extremely unfair” to him.

To recall the important twists and turns of the case, read our timeline of Saibaba’s case here. 

Image credits: www.thehindu.com 

Riya Chhibber

riyac@dubeat.com 

 

 

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DUB News

Woman files FIR, alleges DUSU President of dowry, molestation and attempt to murder

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Delhi University Students’ Union President Satender Awana’s name has been mentioned along with that of other family members in an FIR filed by a woman with the Noida police on March 12. The woman has accused the Awana family of harassment over dowry, molestation and attempt to murder and has filed the FIR against her husband, Mohit Awana, and her in laws. Satender Awana has been named in the FIR as one of her brothers-in-law. The accused have not been arrested and the case has been sent for mediation, as is customary in dowry disputes, according to The Hindu.

The complainant has alleged that, the Awana family had harassed and assaulted her over not complying with their additional dowry demands, though their initial demands for money and a car were met by her family.

Satender Awana, a leader of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarathi Parishad, informed the media that he is not related to the woman who filed the FIR, though he knows the family as members of his village in Noida. The family dispute has been raging since Mohit Awana was married to her in May last year. The police have also been unable to establish Satender as one of the brothers-in-law of the complainant.

Awana has said that he will file a defamation case against the complainant on grounds of trying to tarnish the image and reputation of himself and his family. In a statement to the media, Awana said, “People who know my family and myself are familiar with our character and lifestyle. These allegations are baseless and fictitious, and the truth of the matter will be proved in court.”

Students’ organisations like the All India Students’ Association have raised the demand for Awana’s resignation from the post of DUSU President. In retaliation, Awana questioned such a demand on the grounds that these demands were not raised against Kanhaiya Kumar who faced charges of sedition. However, he agreed to step down if the allegations were proved.

Awana has earlier made controversial statements, such as threatening to “shoot down the traitors in JNU” who allegedly raised anti-India slogans. He was also accused of misbehaving with two journalists who were conducting a survey on sexual consent on Delhi University’s North Campus.

Picture Credits: The Hindu 

Abhinaya Harigovind

abhinayah@dubeat.com

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DUB Speak

The Quint case: Are we still not ready for ‘sex waale’ questions?

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“If your partner is drunk and says yes to sex, but then passes out while you’re about to have sex– is it okay to proceed to have sex with them?”

2 journalists from the popular media house ‘The Quint’ were posing questions such as this to the students of DU on Wednesday as a part of their media house’s #MakeOutInIndia campaign. While two students got ready to answer their questions, a third party came in to raise doubts on the appropriateness of the topic and started falsely alleging the two journalists of instigating ‘innocent’ girls to answer their ‘immoral’ questions.

Yes, the third party was literally the party which won all the seats in the DUSU elections this time. Led by Satender Awana, DUSU president, supporters of ABVP (almost 20 in number) walked in and gheraoed the two female journalists and started asking them why they were asking ‘sex waale’ questions to ‘innocent by-standers’. ‘If these recordings are opened in public, no one will marry these girls’, one of the ABVP members proclaimed.

It would be a disgrace to even wonder whether what the journalists were doing was appropriate or not (the SHO of a police station in North Campus stated that the journalists were not committing any crime). The fundamental question that arises in this country every day, be it in this case or for the Dadri case or other matters of moral policing, is this: Is the opinion of the powerful equivalent to the law of the land? The occurrence raises a larger question and highlights the still naïve average mindset of our patriarchal country. At a time when we are seeing a sexual revolution which has grasped the young of this country to come out and talk about the subject, there are those who still want to hide this so called ‘taboo’ subject behind a pall.People still consider talking about sex in public as a sin and believe that it infringes upon their ‘traditional’ value structure.

According to several researches done in both India and abroad, it has been found out that the less we talk about sex, the more rampant are the crimes related to it, and that the more we educate people on sex, the rate of crime falls down significantly. Such scientifically-driven researches suffice to end the argument if it ever actually existed.

Another aspect which is appalling here is the fact that our country still shows abhorrent signs of a patriarchal mindset, highlighted by the recent incident mentioned above. While the ABVP members were not concerned about the marriage of the boy who answered the question, they felt ‘infuriated’ by the fact that such questions if let out in the open will hamper the marriage concerns of the girl who was answering them. How agonising is the fact that 15 years into the 21st century, some of us still think that a girl’s marriage depends on how ‘moral’ she has been in her life?

Brij Pahwa

brijmohanp@dubeat.com

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Campus Central

Voting concludes for DUSU elections, 44% turnout for morning colleges

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Amidst tight security provided by the Delhi Police, the season of campaigning finally came to an end as voting for the Delhi University Students’ Union concluded on Friday. The results of the elections will be declared on Saturday at noon.

The turnout was reported to be over 44% for morning colleges. The turnout for evening colleges will be confirmed later. Last year, the figure for morning colleges stood at 42.3%. Voting began at 8:30AM and went on till 12:30PM for morning colleges.

#Live: Voting has begun! Do go out and exercise your right and responsibility this year at the #DUSU #election 2015.By Shraman Ghosh for DU Beat

Posted by DU Beat on Thursday, 10 September 2015

Elections for college unions were also conducted on Friday. The results for the same were announced on the same day.

Major parties like ABVP, NSUI, CYSS and AISA halted campaigning on the 9th. AAP’s CYSS is the new entrant to DU’s politics this year. Last year, ABVP swept all 4 seats of the DUSU.

DUSU is one of the most influential students’ unions of the country; numerous past office-bearers, Arun Jaitley and Ajay Maken to name a few, have gone ahead to hold public offices in Central and State Governments.

Image credits: Jasmine Chahal

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