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Action for Animal Welfare

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The recent unwrapping of the Ankiv Baisoya’s fake degree case brings with it harsh truths about elections and raises a question on the trustworthiness of nomination credentials.

On the 13th of September 2018, Ankiv Baisoya was appointed as the President of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU). Recently, his college degree has been put to the question, accusing him of providing the authorities with a fake one. He is currently pursuing Masters in the Buddhist Studies program from the Department of Buddhist Studies, University of Delhi (DU). It would’ve been surprising if such a case happened for the first time, but the Rocky Tuseed case had already paved a way for expecting more such instances.

Ankiv Basisoya won with total votes of 20,467, marking a clear difference of 2000 votes from his opponent. The whole faith and belief that people as voters have on their leaders stand in question when one gets to know that their preferred candidate has based himself on false foundations. As a voter, one invests a lot of time and effort during the whole process of elections.

The public’s support towards any leader is based on the promises that they make in their manifestos or other public gatherings. We are offered what the leaders want us to know and that’s about it. These promises, however, turn out mostly to be hollow and fake. During the DUSU Elections, people were being offered movie tickets, free food, etc, The voters, at times get blinded by the misty fog of sweetness and pretentiousness that hides dark and unlawful secrets. All the assurances of a “better tomorrow” or “bright future” that seemed promising and fancy at first, slowly lose its charm.

Of course, in a democratic system (India, being one of the largest democracies in the world), the public is the one who has an upper hand and can elect the leaders of their choice. But when the public itself falls into the ditches of fake promises or indifference, or the chosen leader turns out to be a bad choice, the belief system lays tarnished on the grounds of false pretences. And most importantly, puts a big question mark on the honesty and authenticity of the political party as a whole. In Rocky Tuseed’s case, for example, since his criminal records came forward and he was exposed openly in front of the public. The party that he was representing, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) had to bear the effect of his actions in the DUSU Elections of 2018, by winning only one post (that of the Joint Secretary) out of four.

Amidst all the uncertainty surrounding this kind of a condition, the most certain idea that takes birth is – that if such a situation can arise during the election procedure in one of the best universities of the country, why can’t it happen in the national elections? Already, our current Prime Minister is embroiled in controversies surrounding his educational qualifications.

Maxwell’s saying that “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way” will lie somewhere deep, buried inside the earth if such an event ever unfolds in the national election. Because then, an inevitable question will present itself: What even is the ‘way’?

Image Credits: Ankiv Basoya, Facebook

Akshada Shrotryia

[email protected]

Action for Animal Welfare (AAW) is an apolitical, non-profit organization co-founded by Shreya Gandhi and Saachi Bhatia, students of Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University.

AAW was set up with the objective of generating awareness about the legal rights of abandoned as well as domesticated animals. It aids various animal welfare organisations and small shelter homes to raise funds and works as a space for young policy makers, environmentalists and enthusiastic animal lovers to share their views on animal protection and suggest fruitful policy changes.

Very recently the NGO organised a cultural event called ‘Potpourri’ at Bandstand, Hauz Khas, to raise funds for animal welfare organisation. It had multifarious activities like slam poetry, interaction with spirited novelists and music performances to keep the crowd engaged. It was their first large scale event which helped them raise approximately 20,000 for a good cause.

Action for Animal Welfare's event, Potpourri.
A performer at Action for Animal Welfare’s cultural event, Potpourri.

 

In the past they have conducted two collection drives – at Sri Venkateswara College and Lady Shri Ram College for Women to help stop the shut down of Friendicoes, a Delhi-based animal welfare NGO. A total of 120 articles in the form of blankets, old collars, rice, milk, biscuits, antiseptic liquids etc. were collected and successfully donated.

They had also conducted a protest march in collaboration with the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations (FIAPO) on International Justice Day to demand legal rights for animals and a street play was organised at Panchsheel Colony to spread awareness about the harmful effects of crackers on animals during Diwali.

They are working harder every day to help animals out of the sheer love they have for them.

“We had begun our initiative around March 2015, post our exams. We have seen our organisation grow from just the two of us to over ten volunteers that work with us today. Right now, we are focused on expanding our organisation by aiming to provide ground force to more NGOs. We also want to help the smaller shelter homes which may be run by individuals just out of pure compassion for animals by providing them with volunteers, financial aid or any sort of help they require” said the co0founders Saachi Bhatia and Shreya Gandhi.

You can check out their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/ActionforAnimalWelfare/

Image Credits: Action for Animal Welfare

Nishita Agarwal

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