Latest
DU Beat – Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper
Tag

AISA

Browsing
DUB News

Student Protesters at Arts Faculty Brutally Detained by Delhi Police

By

Following the detainment of student protestors against the harassment of women students at IPCW on Wednesday 29th March, Delhi Police has further detained numerous individuals during SFI and AISA protests at Arts Faculty on Friday, 31st March.

On Friday, 31st March 2023, student protestors at Arts Faculty in North Campus were brutally detained by Delhi Police and dragged towards buses to transport them to the police station. The protestors included individual students along with members of the Student’s Federation of India (SFI) and the All India Students Association (AISA).

The SFI and AISA attempted to stage a peaceful protest outside Indraprastha College for Women gates. However, due to heavy police deployment at the IPCW campus, the protest was shifted to Arts Faculty. The “Azadi March” from Miranda House to the Arts Faculty soon invited police crackdown. The police have not only detained several student protestors but, allegedly, also innocent bystanders and media personnel. SFI and AISA have alleged that the activists have been ‘manhandled’ and ‘harassed’ by the police.

I took out my phone and showed them my media ID but one of the officers didn’t listen and continued dragging me towards their bus,” – Bharish, a DU Beat photographer covering the protest.

A release by AISA DU dated 31st March, 2023 states, “We call for immediate termination of Satender Yadav, the ACP Civil Lines. He has ordered a brutal crackdown on AISA’s Azadi March and has himself manhandled Anjali, AISA DU Secretary.”

SFI and AISA have been calling for protests ever since the Indraprastha College for Women’s fest was marred by unknown men. On 28th March 2023, Indraprastha College for Women hosted its annual fest, during which several drunk men scaled the college walls and harassed women students. The miscreants wrote and chanted vulgar and obnoxious messages and created an unsafe space for the fest-goers. There was alleged inaction from the administration or police to control the chaos. Since then, the principal has also failed to address the matter. 

The student organisations have demanded that Delhi Police and the IPCW administration take accountability for allowing the situation to take place and not providing adequate punishment to the unknown men behind the situation. They have also demanded to know the reasoning behind Delhi Police letting the perpetrators behind a similar situation at Miranda get away despite escorting them out of Miranda House at the time. 

Today’s protest at the Arts Faculty follows a similar scene observed on Wednesday, 29th March at the IPCW Campus where student protestors were detained at Burari Police Station. 

This is a very sad state of affairs which is happening from last few months. We are seeing how administration with the help of police has been dealing with the students who have been peacefully protesting against the events that are happening in the university campus.” – Samaa, Co-convener at SFI DU. 

Allegedly, the classroom windows of IPCW have been covered with sheets to ignore the protests happening outside. Individuals present at today’s protest also allege that the walls of IPCW have also been painted saffron.  Students, along with the support of SFI and AISA have been demanding answers from the administration for the past few days, staging protests in an attempt to receive an answer from the authorities. These protests have so far been met with inaction from the University of Delhi and brutal action from Delhi Police.

Read Also: Delhi Police Detains Student Protestors at IPCW

Feature Image Credits:

Bhavya Nayak

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

SFI Alleges Attack on Members at DU Lit Fest

By

On March 19 2023, the last day of the DU Lit Fest, SFI workers gathered to protest against a speaker session with Dr. Subramanian Swamy and were allegedly physically attacked by unidentified persons.

The Delhi University Literature Festival, organised on Ramjas College grounds from March 17–19, has been subject to a series of allegations by organisations such as Students’ Federation of India and the All India Students’ Association, with the latter accusing the event of holding right-wing political affiliations. On March 19 2023, a protest by SFI during a speaker session with Dr. Subramanian Swamy was shut down by the beating and manhandling of the protestors by assailants, who the SFI alleged are affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

“On 19, we decided to show our dissent with placards, and as soon as we marched towards the stage—we were some 20-25 activists—first the organising team members tried to stop us. After 10–15 seconds, almost 40–45 people, who may be students or may not be students, I don’t know what student wing they were affiliated to, but they were affiliated to RSS — for sure I know that — started chanting slogans like ‘Jai Shree Ram’ and ‘Vande Mataram’ and started pushing and beating us. They beat 5–6 of our activists pretty badly, including me, and pushed us outside the college gates. The security did not do anything. What was shocking for us was that a professor of Ramjas College itself, Chemistry Department, also started to beat us.”

Abhishek, SFI DU Convenor

In a press release, SFI alleged that the assailants “hurled abusive remarks on the students” and “physically pushed the female students”. Referring to the security officials as “mute spectators”, they accused them of not trying to stop the alleged attackers. SFI further described the program as “a PR event for BJP under the garb of a Literature Fest”, and alleged the use of “cheap tactics involving muscle power to silence them (the protesting students).”

The organising team of the DU Lit Fest has hit back at these allegations, stating that the event was “not politically motivated in any way” and was merely an expression of ideas which “did not belong to the political left.”

A volunteer and member of the organising team for the DU Lit Fest, who wished to remain anonymous, felt that the claims were “exaggerated” and “twisted into a narrative”.

Being a part of the organising team, I never felt that any political ideology or political party inspired us. Students, not just from DU, from various colleges and institutions, were very excited and joined. A lot of the authors that came to DU Lit Fest were the ones who had come to Bharat Book Club, which comes under Historical India, for their book launches. You will hear that they are rightists and all, but if you would’ve actually gone to the book stalls, you would find books from various ideologies and various authors.

– Anonymous volunteer at the DU Lit Fest

A student who volunteered at the Festival told us that it was but natural for the organisers to try to stop a “screaming” protest, even a peaceful one, at a large-scale event they had worked very hard to organise.

Similar sentiments were echoed on social media channels, where the apparent and presumed fest organisers called SFI’s videos “full of misinformation and misleading statements”, referring to the diversity in the rest of the talk sessions and the hard work put in by students behind the event.

Read also: AISA Organises People’s Literature Festival, Condemns DU Lit Fest as ‘BJP-RSS Propaganda’

Featured Image Credits: DU Beat

Sanika Singh
[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
AISA

AISA Organises People’s Literature Festival, Condemns DU Lit Fest as ‘BJP-RSS Propaganda’

By

Rejecting the alleged ‘sham of DU Literature Festival’ which was organised in Ramjas College from March 17–19, AISA organised a ‘People’s Literature Festival’ on March 17, coinciding with the former.

On March 17, the All-India Students’ Association (AISA) organised a ‘People’s Literature Festival’ at the University Arts Faculty from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The festival enjoyed the attendance of hundreds of students and prominent speakers from the fields of film, academia, and journalism.

With a slogan of celebrating ‘Krantikari’ literature in place of ‘Sarkari’ literature, the festival was organised in direct opposition to the DU Literature Festival, which was held from March 17–19, 2023, on Ramjas College grounds. The organisation alleged that the latter was hosted “with a whole range of BJP-corporate intellectuals”, who “spewed communal venom on the platform of a public university”, as accused by AISA’s press release and social media handles.

“Rather than calling for the cancellation of the Lit Fest, we wanted to bring about a positive campaign as an alternative” – Anjali, AISA DU Secretary.

Anjali further described the program as “an attempt to reclaim the democratic space of dissent in the University.”

The festival had a focus on “revolutionary traditions in literature”, hosting a range of interactive speaker sessions on the topics of resistance, cinema, media, caste, history, literature, and people’s movements. It featured a line-up of speakers such as ‘Anarkali of Aarah’ director Avinash Das, ‘Mooknayak’ editor and journalist Meena Kotwal, historian S. Irfan Habib, and professor Apoorvanand, among others.

The program also included an open mic session of poetry recitation by the University students, along with Professor Nandita Narain, who inaugurated the event with a rendering of ‘Hum Dekhenge’ by Faiz. The team of ‘Raschakra’ performed a theatrical reading of ‘Afghani Dukhtaran’, a play written by Purwa Bhardwaj and directed by Vinod Kumar, centring on the literature and resistance of the women of Afghanistan against years of oppression. The festival concluded with a cultural performance and songs of resistance.

Read also: IP College Lit Fest- The Artist, Society and A Pinch of Heroin

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

Sanika Singh
[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Features

Violence, Protests and Dirty Politics: The Lens on DU

By
political state of DU

Throughout its storied history, Delhi University has gained a reputation as a political university. This article takes a look at the political perception of DU and its credibility.

If there is one thing you know about me, reader, it is that I absolutely love telling stories. In fact, I was indulging this exact habit a few weeks ago in a conversation with a friend as I regaled him with the ridiculous tales of DU politics I’d come across during my first month as a correspondent at DU Beat. As I finished my story about yet another instance of some student organisation appealing to their college’s admin on some glamorous student issue that would be great for attracting votes, he laughed and said something that would stick with me for a while. He told me, “Man, you’re a DU student, of course you get dragged into political events.”

“What a strange remark,” I thought, “And really? With JNU right there?” Therefore, I decided to try and figure out why universities like DU have been entrapped in prisons to the politics of the time and here we are. The answer? It starts – just like DU – in the 20s.

Delhi University was established in 1922, with just four affiliate colleges: St. Stephen’s, Hindu College, Zakir Hussain College and Ramjas College. A place like Delhi University, with the space for intellectual stimulation and debate that it offers, was always going to be an incubator for students that cared about where their country was going and were ready to do something about it. Thus, it is not a surprise that students of the varsity were actively involved in the freedom struggle. St. Stephen’s and Ramjas actively participated in the Non Cooperation and Civil Disobedience movements. Hindu College was at the front of the nationalist movements in the 20s – it is the only college since 1935 in Delhi to have a student parliament. This parliament gave a platform to leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru and Motilal Nehru. The people that walked the halls of these institutions – students and staff alike – were nationalists.

In the 70s, Indira Gandhi’s government declared the Emergency and the country grappled with an authoritarian regime that refused to listen to the opposition. In such a situation, it seems you can always count on the youth of a nation to bring their fire and their impassioned appeals for change. And they did not disappoint at the time either! Delhi University saw the rise of the two major student organisations, the National Students Union of India (NSUI) and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP). The former is the student front of the Congress while the latter is backed by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Alongside them, other student organisations such as Students Federation of India (SFI) and All India Students Association (AISA) also arose, albeit nowhere near to the dominance of the NSUI and ABVP. At the time, the ABVP regularly campaigned against the government, establishing itself with its anti-authoritarianism and anti-emergency protests. This period of tension culminated with the arrest of the Delhi University Student Union (DUSU) president at the time, Arun Jaitley. As Shraddha Iyer declares in her piece for DU Beat, “The arrest of Arun Jaitley had one implication for students: the centre fears their ability to mobilise against them.”

Delhi University has since been home to all kinds of political debates and discussions between different ideologies. While most students do not buy into the exact ideologies of the numerous student organisations waiting to spend lakhs to buy their votes, there is a general acceptance of free ideals and a willingness to raise their voices in favour of what is right and against what is wrong.

In 2020, with the controversial CAA being passed around in the Houses of Parliament, there was a line of protests across the nation. At the forefront? The young minds of one of the country’s most respected universities. DU students did not shy away from arranging mass protests against the bill. They showed, very adamantly, that the majority of the next generation of this grand nation did not agree with the kind of administration that was being set in place for the future that they were to inherit. They claimed that the CAA was unconstitutional as by excluding Muslims it went against India’s core tenet of secularism, Against the central government’s repeated attempts to shut them down – some of which were ridiculously dirty – the students raised their voices even higher. The protests were disrupted by the pandemic in the end, but the students had proved that 50 years on from the events of Emergency, the students of Delhi University were still ready to fight for what they cared about.

Alongside these admittedly impressive showings of power by the students, the dirtier side of student politics has also flourished. Student politics are seen as a platform before taking the next step and joining politics at the government levels. Every year in September, the DUSU elections take place at the university. The campuses are gripped by election fever as lakhs are spent by student organisations to butter up the newest batch of students. There is a frenzy for power and authority as the streets are filled with processions of people proclaiming slogans of their respective affiliations. Student organisations feel that the September winds bring back importance to the always prevailing student issues and decide to launch protests across campuses. As I write this article, on September 14th, there are protests taking place in various colleges such as Ramjas, Shyam Lal College, Zakir Hussain, Lakshmibai College and more. All of them are carried out by the ABVP on issues ranging from fee hikes to, for some reason, a boys’ common room. There are seemingly infinite wads of cash thrown by all organisations at alcohol, parties, trips to the water park and fast food for students in a bid to secure their loyal votes.

It gets darker, there are regular reports of politically incited violence on the campuses of the University. It is particularly harsh for the candidates in the running for the positions of the DUSU. In September 2019, the ABVP alleged that the NSUI attacked their candidate for Joint Secretary. Two days later, the NSUI alleged that the ABVP attacked their candidate for vice-president. In 2022 alone, there have been multiple allegations against the ABVP by the NSUI and SFI accusing the rightist organisation of violence.

In the end, it seems my friend was right about DU being political. It may be a perception that’s a little too absolute and dismissive, but it is right to some extent. Delhi University can be a political hotbed. However, more often than not, this is a direct consequence of being a space for debate and discussion of different ideologies right at the capital of the country. Hundreds of students from different backgrounds from different parts of the nation attend this famed university. That kind of exposure brings with it intellectual debates and discussions hidden within the fun of campus life.

All DU ever asks its future students is one thing: what are you willing to stand for? For the pre-independence students of the university it was freedom. For the students in the 70s it was anti authoritarianism. For the students in 2020, it was a sense of secularism and unity. As the elections roll around and the exaggerated showings of student support start, DU and its historically active alumni now ask you, dear reader, “what will you stand for?”

Read also: Prisoner to Political Parties

Featured Image Credits: The Hindu

Siddharth Kumar

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

AISA Organizes ‘Protest From Home’ Against Online Examination

By

All India Students Association (AISA) called for students to hold up placards and upload pictures online to protest against online exams.

As a continuation of the struggle against online Open Book Examination (OBE) for final year students, AISA conducted a ‘protest from home’ on 17 May 2020. The method of protest according to a press release by AISA was “students held placards at their homes, flats, hostels, PGs, etc and protested on social media using the hashtag #DURejectsOnlineExams and #DUAgainstOnlineExams.”

Students from 25 colleges across the University participated in the protest, which also included mass emailing to the Vice-Chancellor, Dean of Student’s Welfare, and Joint Controller of Examinations against online exams. The students took this protest to raise their grievances against online exams, calling it privileged and ableist. Some students pointed out that how out of place online exams are in a public university where students come from remote parts of India and all social backgrounds.

The Press Release also alludes to AISA’s 1500 student survey which found that more than 70% of these students will not be able to participate in online university practices. It ends with AISA’s resolve to continue the fight against online OBEs.

Damni Kain, one of the protestors and a member of AISA went to twitter to protest against online exams and also laying down several well thought points against online exams. She points out how results would “depend upon how lucky one is to have an internet connection working good enough at the point of exam.” She also points out that those who do not have good cameras will not be able to upload the answer script in a way that it is readable. She calls this move an “anti student move which snatches the opportunity to complete education for many.”
Feature Image Credits: AISA

Prabhanu Kumar Das

[email protected]

 

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

Political Parties and DU: Thoughts to Consider

By

As many students finish their first semester in Delhi University (DU), the country is faced with a major political crisis which has divided India. At this time, should you join a student political party?

DU is an extremely political campus, with all colleges having some or the other form of student representation, with a wider Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) which represents students from most of the DU colleges. Some of the major student political parties present in DU are the Right wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), which is affiliated to the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), which is affiliated to Congress, All India Students Association (AISA) which is associated with Communist Party of India ( Marxist-Leninist) ( CPI-ML), and Students’ Federation of India which is associated with Communist Party of India (Marxist) ( CPI-M).

Many first years would have been told when they joined DU to stay away from politics by their parents, fearing the incidents of violence which come to play in DU politics. The political crisis in the country started by the passing of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), which many opposed due to its openly islamophobic and communal nature and came out on the streets to protest against it. On the other side, groups have come out in support of this act.

Before joining a political party in a spur of the moment decision, one must try to consider what the party stands for. Joining a party just because you want to express dissent or because those around you are joining is not the right option, while these parties might give you the space to dissent and information about protests, it is important to know the ideologies that the party that you want to join, stands for. This can easily be done by reading the manifesto of the party.

Most parties can be easily joined by filling out a form on their website or by looking for their representatives on campus. If you do decide to join one, remember that you get to choose your level of participation. Being in parties will also open you up to learning more about the idealogies and the people behind them. Do not be discouraged by those telling you not to join, if you believe it is the the way to express yourself politically, then these organizations are the best way to go for it.

Feature Image credits: Noihirit Gogoi for DU Beat

Prabhanu Kumar Das

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

Young India Unites Against CAA

By

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Feature Image Credits: Gyanarjun Saroj for DU Beat

Aditi Gutgutia

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

ABVP’s Game Play With Anti-Left Posters at North Campus

By

ABVP-led DUSU slams the Left for 5 January JNU violence and anti-CAA protests with hoardings all over North Campus. ABVP and NSUI exchange words regarding no official meetings, securing permission and wasting union budget. 

University’s North Campus has been covered with hoardings put by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP)  led Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) blaming the Left for the January 5 violence inflicted at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). They have also blamed the Left for protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. 

 Akshit Dahiya, President, Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) has accepted that the provocative hoardings have been installed by the ABVP. “They (the Left) are speaking about breaking India and slogans and banners seeking freedom for Kashmir have sprung up at their protests. There are attempts to project students’ protest in a negative way,” said Dahiya. 

The DUSU sits on an unbalanced note as three of the members are affiliated to ABVP while the post of Secretary comes from a rather different ideology; led by the Congress-led- National Students’ Union of India (NSUI). Dahiya added that three hoardings have been put up near Law Faculty after attaining the required permission from authorities. The hoardings have messages such as “CAA ke naam par desh jalana bandh karo” (stop burning the country in the name of CAA) and “Left attacks JNU,” carrying pictures of ABVP members injured in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) January 5 violence and those injured due to anti-CAA protests all over the country. One of the hoardings also shows mob pelting stones.

However, the National Students’ Union of India slammed the rather cheap move by ABVP. Ashish Lamba, Secretary of the DUSU questioned the ABVP’s decision to put up such posters as there was no official DUSU meeting regarding the same. Dahiya countered the claim by stating that DUSU Executive Council which comprised 15 members, including the four DUSU office-bearers who came to the conclusion with the consensus of 10 members.  

The Delhi President of NSUI, Akshay Lakra, criticised the wastage caused by ABVP-led DUSU of the Union’s budget. Accusing the ABVP in indulging in dirty left-right politics in free university spaces, Lakra continues, “Despite being exposed many times by media and JNU students, ABVP still hasn’t accepted its defeat in its own propaganda. The NSUI strongly condemns any sort of hate campaign run by political parties on university campuses. It’s high time that we restore peace and harmony on campuses,” he said. To counter this claim, Akshit Dahiya, DUSU President, denied using the budget for putting up the hoarding rather the Executive Council contributes 200 INR per member. 

January 5, 2020, went down quite unfortunate on JNU as masked men and women barged into the campus with weapons, vandalising and injuring people as the Delhi Police observed in silence. Media debated and conspired to blame the Left for inflicting violence on the left, thus perpetuating the idea of ‘Left Terror’. However, within a few days, Pinky Chaudhary of Hindu Raksha Dal took to video to claim responsibility for the merciless attack on unarmed students. In the video, Chaudhary says, “For several years, JNU has been a bastion of communists and we will not tolerate it. Hindu Raksha Dal, Bhupendra Tomar, Pinky Chaudhury take the responsibility of what has happened in JNU…all of them were our volunteers. Those who cannot do such work for Mother India don’t have the right to live in this country.” The violence instigated on students was deadly as over 30 injured students and professors were admitted to AIIMS Trauma Centre on the night of 6th January. 

Featured Image Credits: Jaishree Kumar

Anandi Sen
[email protected] 

 

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

Pro and Anti CAA Protestors Clash at Public Meeting outside RLA College Gate

By

The students of Ram Lal Anand College (RLA) had organised a public meeting on the 14th of January 2020 against CAA-NRC-NPR which was allegedly disrupted by members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

On the 14th of January 2020, concerned students of the College had organised a public meeting outside the RLA gate. The event witnessed Sucheta De and Jitendra Meena as speakers. Manik Gupta, a second year student of History Honours from the College, and a member of All India Students’ Association (AISA) states that they had ensured to follow all the formalities, including getting permission from the Delhi Police.

He further goes on to describe how ABVP tried to disrupt the meeting, He says “Around an hour or half an hour before the public meeting, the President of our college who is affiliated with ABVP, Gulshan Kumar, started going class to class and telling people that the public meeting did not have any permissions and telling students that aap sabhi ko pitwana chahte hai ( They want you to get beaten up) and tried to discredit the public meeting.”

Manik also states that there were further attempts to derail the public meeting after it had begun. He states that during the meeting “South Campus ka saara ABVP aagaya” (All the ABVP members of South Campus came) and they started shouting slogans such as “DU ko JNU nahi banne denge” (We won’t let DU become JNU), “we support CAA”, and “ Delhi Police Zindabad”. He also states that that some ABVP members started disrupting the meeting by asking stupid questions to the speakers.

The organizers eventually had to tell Jitendra Meena to go back due to concerns over his safety because of the atmosphere of fear which had been created by the ABVP. The Public Meeting however still went on, despite the efforts of ABVP, with a preamble reading and singing of the National Anthem. Manik also alleges that he was threatened later by ABVP goons who told him “ab parcha bata toh peet denge” (We will beat you if you distribute pamphlets).

Siddharth Yadav, the State Secretary of  ABVP was reached out for comments, but he refused for the same, citing that he did not have full knowledge of the situation and will update DU Beat later.

Gulshan Kumar,  President of RLA Students’ Union stated on Manik’s claim “ From the morning Manik campaigned in classes and said it is a public meeting by the students. But they invited the national president of AISA. So it was just to fulfill the political agenda and misguide the students. I went into the classes to clarify that students union and the college administration is not involved in such kind of meeting. The students union wrote a letter to the SHO of South campus to maintain the peace. But by making the public meeting a political meeting the meeting was itself disrupted. Manik said the students of RLA were in the meeting and outsiders of ABVP came and disturbed the meeting but I have video evidence that students of RLA were in favour of CAA and the so called public meeting of AISA president was witnessed by outsiders.” He goes on to say that as an elected representative he believes in peaceful protests but his first responsibility is the safety of students. He also shows a letter as proof sent by the SU to the SHO to maintain peace on campus.

 

Feature Image credits: India TV

Prabhanu Kumar Das

[email protected]

 

Keep Reading
By
AISA

Kawalpreet Kaur Detained at Mandir Marg Police Station 

By

Delhi police detains Kawalpreet Kaur, President, All India Students’ Association (AISA) along with 40 other protesters at Mandir Marg police station after protest at Assam and UP Bhawan against Citizen Amendment Act (CAA).

Kawalpreet Kaur, President, All India Students’ Association (AISA) tweeted on early hours of Monday, December 23, 2019, urging people to gather at UP Bhawan, Delhi at 11 AM to demand the resignation of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath or Ajay Bisht.

 

The demand was raised after the rising atrocities against Muslims under Yogi Adityanath government. Within a few hours, another update followed, stating, protestors have been brutally assaulted by the Delhi Police and picked up from UP Bhawan. Kaur was dragged by Delhi Police cops from an auto outside the Bhawan, she was thereafter taken to the bus which had only four other women detainees. She was assaulted and eventually dropped off at the Mandir Marg Police Station.

 

Along with Kaur, over 40+ individuals were detained, however, lawyers arrived on time. Protestors were also picked up from Assam Bhawan who were also taken to Mandir Marg Police Station. 

 

However, the police denied all allegations and spoke to The New Indian Express, saying “We only arrested the protestors from UP Bhawan after we got the orders. We never detained an innocent.”

Prabhanu Kumar Das, Student of Kirori Mal College who was also detained at Mandir Marg Police Station, says, according to the police, Section 144 was imposed but he said he was there along with only one other person when he got detained. He said, “Police barged the streets and looked for anyone who fit the profile for detention i.e. students.” He further sent an audio saying that he was walking away from the Assam Bhawan but was still detained, “As soon as police started detaining people, we dispersed. However, Police were picking up students in groups of 2 or 4 in far corners of the street and taking them to Mandir Marg Police Station.”

 

Feature Image Credits: Kawalpreet Kaur on Facebook

Anandi Sen

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By