Various University of Delhi (DU) Student Organisations gathered to protest against the planned attack on the Unnao rape victim. Read on to know more.
Student organisations of DU held a joint protest in front of the Faculty of Arts, North Campus, on 1st August 2019, to show their dismay over the lack of protection provided to the Unnao rape victim, and the delayed actions taken by the Supreme Court and the Government with respect to this incident. They also condemned the BJP Government, especially Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, for being complicit with the accused.
All India Students’ Association (AISA), All India Students’ Federation (AISF), Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS), Pinjra Tod, Students’ Federation of India (SFI), etc., were some of the student parties that had joined the protest.
Shreya Singh, a member of the All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO) said, “This protest is not only for the Unnao rape victim, but for the lack of safety provided by the Government to girls and women in the country. This protest is against patriarchy. It is for true equality and real freedom for women.”
In the shadow of the Unnao Rape Case, Siddhant Raj, a member of the Progressive Democratic Students’ Federation (PDSF) questioned the Government, the police, and the Supreme Court’s capabilities to protect the girls and women in the country. Many present also condemned the BJP Government’s hypocrisy with respect to the status of women in the country. Harish Gautam, a member of KYS said, “The BJP MLAs go around chanting slogans of ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ and promote themselves by clicking selfies in front of campaigns like this, but when it actually comes to it, they do nothing to protect the girls in the country. Right from the beginning, the Unnao rape survivor was being threatened but the BJP Government failed to provide her with any security.” Shreya Banerjee, a member of AISA agreed to this and said, “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao has been murdered.”
On 28th July 2019, the Unnao rape survivor and her lawyer were critically injured and the rape victim’s relatives killed in a car accident in Rae Bareli, allegedly planned by the BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, the main accused in the rape.
March in defence of academic freedom and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s (ABVP) interference in the syllabus making of various departments of the University of Delhi, namely English, History, Sociology and Political Science took place at the Faculty of Arts on 23rd July amid tensions between the ABVP, departments involved and other student bodies. The protest took a political turn when the members of ABVP and Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) held a counter-protest expressing dissent over the protest.
Students from the English Department and student unions like Students Federation of India (SFI), All India Students Association (AISA), Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS), Pinjra Tod, along with the Delhi University Teacher’s Association (DUTA) held a march in the north campus of DU against ABVP’s opposition to DU’s syllabus-making process. An exercise that was meant to be academic in nature took a distinctly political turn at the meeting of the standing committee on academic matters, where the syllabus was presented on11th July. Rasal Singh, an elected representative of the National Democratic Teachers’ Front (NDTF) which is supposedly aligned with the ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), took issue with parts of the English syllabus that he wanted to be removed and some of the history syllabus that he wanted to be added.
The protest came in the wake of the episode of ABVP barging into the compound of the Vice Regal Lodge, and was rumoured to be asking for three professors, including the Heads of English and History department, to be handed over to them. Since then, ABVP has been protesting against those departments.
Kawalpreet Kaur, Delhi State President of AISA said, “It is well known that the syllabus of Delhi University has an unmatching standard. This owes to the professors who worked hard to maintain the DU’s academic quality. Clearly, ABVP’s intervention calls for systematic destruction of the course content of Delhi University. It is high time that we should all join hands and resist all such moves.”
Changes in the syllabus proposed by the English department of the University were opposed in a meeting of the Standing Committee to review the Undergraduate syllabus on 11th July. Among the proposals was the inclusion of study materials related to the role of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in the 2002 Gujarat riots, and use of Hindu deities in the reading of Queer Literature. DU, having one of the most prestigious and world-class education in humanities and social sciences intends to provoke a critical faculty among the students. However, the references to Hindu deities and Gujarat riots have irked the right-wing forces.
Mahima Chaudhary, a student of Hindu college told DU Beat, “In an academic institution, no party has any right to dictate what should be taught and what not. It is truly fascist and undemocratic.”
Protesters at the Faculty of Arts.
ABVP and Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) have sought support from the academic world for representation of the students with regards to the inclusion of three R’s in the syllabus i.e. representation, review of the syllabus and rational debate. ABVP emphasised on the need for democratisation of academia. However, the intimidation and threatening nature of dissent ABVP used turned out to be anything but democratic.
Addressing the students, Sachin Narayanan, who teaches English at Dyal Singh College, said, “The controversy over the short story ‘Maniben alias Bibijan’ exposes the sinister designs of RSS-BJP government-backed groups and individuals in academia. Factually, neither this story nor the text containing this story was part of the Syllabus Committee’s proposed Undergraduate Programme English language syllabus at any stage. Bunch of lies are being spread to misguide people which must be exposed.”
Given the fact that the revised syllabus was uploaded on the website of the respective departments in the month of May, and feedback from the public was invited before it was presented before the University’s statutory bodies on 11th July, none of the objections was raised, giving the whole syllabus-making process a political turn. The protest took a political turn when ABVP and DUSU held a counter-protest outside the office of HoDs of 5 Departments of English, Sociology, Political Science, History, and Hindi. Headed by the President, Shakti Singh, members were seen shouting slogans like, “Tum naxalvaad se desh todoge, hum rashtravaad se jodenge” and criticised communist and left-wing forces in the campus. The campus had a heavy presence of police in view of the political turn the events had taken.
ABVP Protesters at Faculty of Arts
Shakti Singh told DU Beat, “The way in which Hindu deities are being depicted in the syllabus is very unfortunate. We have written to the Chancellor of DU for the students’ representation in the syllabus making process, and we demand the administration to bring in a new syllabus considering the demands of the students.”
“The entire left-wing professors and the administration of Delhi University must be held responsible for this.” he further added.
The fact of the linkages between Hindu deities and LGBTQ being regarded as “unfortunate” is itself contradictory for a progressive institution like DU. The academic fervour of the University stands threatened and vulnerable by the political turn the events have taken. The subjects of humanities and social sciences are undoubtedly political in nature; however, they also amalgamate the confluence of various thought of schools and discourses. Turning a blind eye and creating a political situation on a dominant opinion threatens the academic stimulation of the various courses being taught in the University. The consequences of the ideological warfare have to be borne by the students and the politicisation of an academic affair raises eyebrows over the academic autonomy of the University
Feature Image Credits: Sriya Rane and Noihrit Gogoi for DU Beat
Student organisations have organised multiple protests till now, raising various demands related to the admission process and alleged fee hikes. In the series of protests, a one-day hunger strike was called on 20th June.
Following the protests of 11th June, 14th June, and a press conference and dharna on 19th June, the protesting student organisations sat on a hunger strike on 20th June against what they have called a “faulty admission process” and fee hike. The hunger strike went on from 10 am to 10 pm in front of Gate No. Four of the Arts Faculty building, and saw the participation of seven student organisations – All India Students’ Association (AISA), Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch (BSCEM), Collective, Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS), Parivartankami Chhatra Sangathan (Pachhas), Pinjra Tod and Students’ Federation of India (SFI).
A total of seven students, one from each organisation, sat on a hunger strike. These included Amarjeet from AISA, Nishant from BSCEM, Udita from Collective, Rohit from KYS, Aman from Pachhas, Diya from Pinjra Tod, and Varkey from SFI.
A press release issued by AISA stated, “The registration fees for OBC category has seen a drastic increase and is placed at INR 750, whereas the EWS category pays INR 300; the criteria for both being an income of below INR 8 lakh per annum.” The press release further mentioned about the previous protests and read, “Seeing disappointment again on the 19th, students decided to take up the method of hunger strike. From today (20th June), Amarjeet from AISA with six other students began the hunger strike and shall continue until the Vice Chancellor comes out and talks to the students.”
A press release had been issued by SFI also on 19th June, which read, “Activists of SFI and other organisations held a press conference and dharna (on 19th June) at gate number four of Arts Faculty, University of Delhi, protesting the fee hike of the OBC registration and faulty admission process. A delegation from the protestors met the Deputy Dean of Students’ Welfare, and submitted a memorandum. He made several verb promises, but nothing concrete came of it. By 4:30 pm the students were attacked by the security guard(s) and removed from gate number four. Later the police also intervened in the matter and attempted to intimidate the students. The protesters have decided to move for a hunger strike from tomorrow.”
Diya Davis from Pinjra Tod, one of the protesters who sat on the hunger strike, told DU Beat, “This (the hunger strike) was after the protest outside the Office gate (of the Dean of Students’ Welfare) was forcefully disrupted by the security personnel the previous day. Protesters were forcefully removed from the protest site on 19th June. There was no response from the admin.” She also said that the students were removed from the protest site “using force by the security guards”, on 19th June.
Another protester, Aman Bhartiya from Pachhas, remarked regarding the strike, “It was hoped that someone will come from (the) administration to discuss the issues, but unfortunately it did not happen. So we are now going to file a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) within 1-2 days. Also a mass protest has been called for, by all student organizations, on 24th June.”
DU Beat had reported about the previous protests and the demands raised. These have majorly centred around the differential fee requirements of students from Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) categories. Other demands include: setting the entrance exam question paper in Hindi as well; providing “proper facilities” at the exam centres; revoking the fee hike in Ramjas College & Bharati College, and other related issues.
Read the previously published reports here for a comprehensive and chronological understanding of the protest:
The protesting organisations are now planning to take the matter to the courts by filing a PIL. A larger protest has also been scheduled for 24th June.
Feature Image Credits: Amarjeet Kumar Singh from AISA
M.Sc. Mathematics students in DU received their results on 8th February 2019, and have been protesting the large-scale failing since 14th February 2019.
Since 14th February 2019, the students of M.Sc. Mathematics Department of University of Delhi (DU) are protesting against the administration for allegedly failing 35 out of 45 students in the Fluid Dynamics Exam. They further claim that 150 out of 300 students failed the first semester Field Theory paper and 130 out of 300 failed the Measure and Integration paper. The students believe that the reason for this is that the faculty feels that the answers of the questions coming in the exams must be according to the notes by the teachers; the students who referred several books to answer the questions were detained. Apart from this, there are students who have been marked absent though they were present for the exams.
The demands of the students are as follows: Firstly, an independent investigation committee, not comprising of any faculty member of the department to re-evaluate the abovementioned three papers, free of cost. Secondly, each student must be shown the answer-sheet of the exams, be it an internal in-house exam or semester exams. Thirdly, the protesting students want the faculty members to lay more emphasis on research-oriented projects where they are allowed to show creativity instead of the ongoing ‘ruttafication’ culture prevailing in the University. Lastly, they are also demanding that students should be allowed to clear their backlogs through re-examinations within two months after every semester. Currently, students have to wait for a year to sit for the re-examination.
On 20th February 2019, the form of the strike was changed into a relay hunger strike. On the same day, C S Lalitha, HoD of the Mathematics department gave a written assurance to the students to fulfill their demands. She also accepted the demand for a feedback mechanism wherein the students are assigned the power to review the teachers’ performance by grading them. The students also demanded action against the anti-women nature of the department. However, these demands were not met by the administration despite passing of the deadline.
Image Credits: Students of M.Sc. Mathematics department
The students have also complained of backlogs in the department, from about 370 students taking admission, and only 30% of the students being able to complete the degree exam. They claim that this is because the exams are designed in a way of testing their memory rather than analytical skills. A student informs DU Beat, “Just because I used the variable ‘X’ instead of ‘Y’, my marks were deducted.”
Srijani Kar, a second-year student informs DU Beat, “There are few students in the mathematics department who complete their masters in two years because of evaluation of this kind and wait to clear backlogs and give improvement tests. Students are unable to be eligible for the NET and JRF, they can’t study further, and can’t get scholarships. The final-year students will be stranded.”
On 27th February 2019, the students have also alleged that Professor Prakash Chandra Jha, Dean of Mathematics Department said that an investigation committee checked their papers, and there hasn’t been any increase in marks except that of two to three students. He also asked the students to take INR 10,000 from him and get their papers re-evaluated. A student further adds, “He asked some of us take money from him personally and get our answer scripts re-checked. However, we denied because this fight is for each one of us. He further stated that the answer sheets are ‘confidential’ and cannot be shown to us.”
DU Beat spoke to Professor Jha. He said, “The issue doesn’t fall under my preview. I don’t look after the examination.”
On 1st March, the students staged a protest outside the department for their long standing demands. The protest was organised by Bhagat Singh Chatra Ekta Manch ,Law Students’ Initiative , Democratic Students Union DSU, and was supported by Students’ Federation of India (SFI), All India Students’ Union (AISA), Pinjra Tod, and Krantikari Yuva Sangathan. However, the protest turned violent hurting the students and the security guards. Gajesh Singh, the Chief Security Officer, hurt his leg and fractured his hand in the violence that broke out. According to the students, the department gate was locked by the guard, and when they asked for entry, the guard abused the students. They also allege that the security officers turned violent on the protestors.
Mr. Singh, Chief Security Officer
Attack on one of the students. Image Credits: Srijani Kar
However, Gajesh Singh,Chief Security Officer, informs DU Beat that there were around forty to fifty students who wanted to lock CS Lalitha in the department. They had brought locks with them. Singh says, “The students did not inform the administration regarding the protest. They wanted to lock her (the HoD of the department) inside the campus. Humne bacchon ko bola baat karlo madam se, unhone mana kardiya (I asked the students to talk to ma’am, but they refused)” “When I did not allow them to go inside, they started pelting stones on me and the other guards. They brought stones with them. In midst of all this, I fractured my hand. The students also beat up the other guards.” The guards are in the process of filing a FIR against the students.
Bijinder Singh, another guard on duty substantiates the whole incident. He said, “The students’ wanted to lock the HoD inside the department. In the midst of all this, violence broke out.”
DU Beat spoke to Kawalpreet Kaur, Delhi University AISA President. She said, “Delhi Police was seen assaulting the students. The administration had denied meeting the students. If the management doesn’t listen to the student grievances, what will they do? The students are fighting for their rights, and we support them.” On asking her why the protest turned violent when AISA always condemns the use of violence and hooliganism in the University, she added, “The HoD called the security and they beat up the students. We condemn the violence that broke out during the protest. However, the student political wings in the University are there to help the students fight for their rights.”
“SFI also condemns the attack on the democratic space of the University and administrative highhandedness. Again, SFI would like to extend its solidarity with the Maths Faculty of DU”, expressed the SFI press release.
Siddharth Yadav, Delhi State Secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad condemned the same. He said, “We stand by the demands of the students but the way opted for raising the demands must be non- violent. For raising genuine issues, beating security guards, throwing stones, trying to kidnap the teachers must not be the way. Left organisations have started practicing the same which they do in Jawaharlal Nehru University which indeed would not only bring down the weight of the demands but spoil the campus environment as well.”
DU Beat tried contacting C.S. Lalitha, however, she was unavailable to comment.
On Tuesday, 11th September 2018, DU Beat conducted an interview with Neelanjita Bishwas, the Vice-Presidential candidate of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) in context to the Delhi University Student Union Elections to be held on the 12th of September 2018.
Neelanjita is pursuing Political Science Honours from Hindu College. She is from West Bengal and has been working with SFI since class 12th. Here are some excerpts from the interview.
A majority of students feel detached from DUSU (Delhi University Student Union). In such a scenario, what is your model of establishing accountability? We certainly consider this a major issue. As made clear in our agenda, we plan on holding regular union GBM (General Body Meetings) with students. Yesterday, we held a program called “Ask Your Candidate” and answers pointed questions about our manifesto and policies. We are ready for all sorts of criticism and questions. What are your party’s opinions regarding the autonomy drive of the colleges? Our party clearly opposes any such autonomy of colleges. We understand that autonomy entails economic privatisation which will lead to fee hike and compromise the diversity, accessibility, and inclusivity of university spaces. SFI has struggled against autonomy in the past and would continue doing so. How inclusive do you think SFI in terms of minority representation? At SFI we believe in equality. In fact, only after the recent NSUI allegations of casteism, we looked into the issue of minority representation and found that we have people coming from all socio-economic backgrounds in our party. Lyngdoh Committee lays down five thousand rupees as the maximum expenditure amount. How does your party maintain it? To make things clear at the very beginning, we are against the Lyngdoh Committee for its restrictive nature. Having said that, we are the only party that follows the expenditure and paperless election regulations, when everyone else is abusing it indiscriminately. The administration should take stringent actions against the same. At the same time, seeing other leftist parties engage in the same is extremely disappointing. This election year, AISA has been accused of aligning with CYSS for monetary gains. How do you see these allegations? First of all, it was disappointing to see AISA not aligning with us, in spite of our ideological similarities and the many wars we have fought together. As far as your question is concerned, I believe it would be more proper to pose this question to AISA leadership. In an environment where clean and honest politics has a history of not bearing fruits, what motivates your party to keep on fighting? A drive to weed out the corruption and mismanagement of resources, I would say. There is an inner drive which propels one to keep on working against all odds.
In a session today, AISA-CYSS and NSUI presented their election manifestoes in Miranda House. The Miranda House Student’s Union elections were also held.
Half an hour after noon today, the Miranda House auditorium was abuzz with students who had come to hear the candidates for various student’s unions making their election speeches. After the Miranda House Student’s Union elections (MHSU) candidates made their election speeches, representatives from AISA-CYSS and NSUI came forward for their campaigns.
Abhigyan, the AISA-CYSS Presidential candidate said in his campaign speech, “There is a narrative which has happened that university-level politics is very self-centred and is used as a stepping stone for advancing a person’s career, we are trying to change this narrative. Why shouldn’t there be a narrative where we can talk about politics? We are trying to build a Union which is not going to dictate the students.” Abhigyan raised several issues like financial autonomy, the use of muscle power and the masculinity that has crept up in politics. He also talked about how AISA had helped in building a girls’ hostel in Hindu College, fought for metro bus passes as well as campaigned against financial autonomy.
Abhigyan was then questioned extensively by the students who asked him on AISA’s stand on gender discrimination committees, why AISA was fielding a male Presidential candidate and so on.
After that, NSUI’s student candidate for the Vice-Presidential post, Leena tried to present her manifesto. However, some of the students of Miranda House opposed her before she could say anything, demanding that she leave the podium and that she was not “fit to be contesting elections.” Amid massive booing, Leena talked about the NSUI’s stance for women empowerment, to make University of Delhi (DU) an Institute of Eminence which would bring in public funds, to launch a thali for students worth 10 rupees, etc. Leena, who is a graduate of Miranda House, claimed that she used to “stand outside the gate of Miranda House regularly and campaign.” However, many students shouted that they hadn’t seen her outside the gate. She was also called out on her claim of not distributing any pamphlets in her name, what she would do on her part to change the politics of the University, and the fact that her name was changed from Leena to “A.A. Leena” in an alleged claim for getting the first ballot. Although Ms Leena tried to defend her position and that of her student union, the students booed her off the stage.
Ambica, a Miranda House student said, “The girl from NSUI didn’t have answers for anything. She just repeated a few things that she had been told to say. But it wasn’t surprising because once your party member has been accused of molestation and rape, there isn’t much that you could say.”
Muskan Dhar, the Vice-president of Women’s Development Cell of Miranda House, when asked if the booing was fair, said, “We heard Abhigyan and he was pretty correct in saying that the ICCs are not functional. As an ICC candidate, I know the kind of resistance we face in having meetings. The candidate from NSUI, however, did not have any proper manifesto. How Miranda reacted to it was two-fold. Some of it was justified since we know of the increasing violence around the campus, but I think we could have channelised our concerns in a better way.”
No official candidate of ABVP showed up and no official reasons were submitted for. Later in a notice released by the Staff Advisors of Miranda House, it was informed that the ABVP candidates would address the students of Miranda House tomorrow at from 12:45 to 1 p.m.
This is a real account of an election campaign flyer, its journey and observations
Fresh off the print, I and other flyers were stacked up in the morning. A few hours later, some of my brothers were stuck on the campus walls while others like me were kept to be distributed to the inhabitants of this world called the University of Delhi. We all have the same cliched font style. One might say we lack individuality. The only thing that is different is a label, I belong to the family of NSUI while my fellow flyers are put under the labels of ABVP and AISA. AISA guys are the poorer folks of the lot, their paper quality is cheap. ABVP and I are similar in social standing and almost the same in numbers.
So, as the sun got warmer in the day, some of the bearded political leaders/goons (they are looked at differently by different factions) went around and handed me over to a reluctant first-year student in a random North Campus college. My handler said “Vote for NSUI” in an intimidating voice and the fresher had no option but to accept me. The next instant, the procession of the Aviator glasses and marigold garland wearing youth politicians walked away; the fresher just threw me on the ground and resumed his business. He has joined this college to study and socialise. All this political business is no business for him.
As I lay on the ground, I saw a fellow ABVP brother flyer and an AISA sister. The latter called me a gunda and I replied using the best comeback in Hindi language ‘Jo bolta hai wo hi hota hai’. Then we all engaged in an intense shouting match, complete with threats and blame games. The ABVP flyer lost his cool to such an extent that he said if he had hands, he would have even slapped the AISA flyer. It ended up in awkward silence and I flew away to the canteen.
In the canteen, a kind old uncle took me and folded me like a fifth grader’s origami project. I got stained by oil as he wrapped me around a couple of samosas. I got a glimpse of this canteen world and it looked like a safe haven. This is the umbrella under which all groups take shelter, whether it be the pseudo-intellectuals, the goons, the nerds. or the good for nothing vellas. The girl who took me ate the samosas and threw me on the canteen floor even though a big dustbin was right in front of her. How much effort does it take to put me in the dustbin? Well anyway, that means more freedom for me.
So, I flew and I flew until I came on a sidewalk near the college gate. The passers-by were all staring at the motorcade of Scorpios adorned with NSUI and ABVP stickers. The party members and campaigners were perched on the hood of the moving cars. It all seemed like an updated version of the ‘Kiki challenge’. Then in a fit of excitement, they clenched several party flyers and cards in their fists and let them all loose on the crowded road. When the big muscled men and the big muscled cars departed from the road, the gravelled tar path was littered, or in a sense adorned, with hundreds of election flyers strew here and there. So much for Swach Bharat!
I was asleep for a few minutes so I did not realise when I ended up in this e-rickshaw. Some students in the vehicle are talking amongst themselves about a certain judgement day on 12th September. I am eager to know what will happen on this day. I hope that I am not stepped over or torn into shreds by then.
Kawalpreet Kaur, President of AISA was allegedly attacked on Friday in front of Kirori Mal College. DU Beat brings you a report on the incident.
In a Facebook post, Kawalpreet Kaur, the President of All India Student’s Association (AISA) at University of Delhi (DU) alleged that she had been attacked by the students of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in front of the hostel gate of the Kirori Mal College (KMC). She alleged that she, along with two of her friends, had gone to KMC for meeting a professor, where she was followed by a group of four people who “constantly abused” her. “It made me feel very humiliated and provoked me so much that my natural response was to slap him which I did. Immediately, without losing a second, the guy slapped me so tightly that I lost my balance for seconds and I had tears in my eyes,” Ms. Kaur said in her post. Her friend, Dhiraj Kumar, a Research Scholar at Ambedkar University, chased after the person who slapped her and was then assaulted by 12-15 people from the ABVP, the post mentioned.
DU Beat contacted Mr. Kumar, who had returned from the hospital after undergoing an X-ray test. “We were humiliated by two people from ABVP. When I saw that the guy who had slapped Kawal, was running away after slapping her, I started screaming that he had slapped a girl and ran away. The KMC guards who were there did not stop him and the guy escaped. I followed the guy and I saw around five ABVP people who accused me of chanting slogans like “Hindustan Murdabad”, when I denied them. They started beating me and they beat me a lot. They were trying to drag me outside the college but I tried to not come out. Around 15-20 people started to beat me up. Then, two people got hold of my legs and dragged me outside. The guards waiting did not even help me. In fact, they demanded I show them my ID,” Mr. Kumar told us.
“Finally, a teacher saw me from a rickshaw and controlled the people beating me. Then I quickly got into the college and the beating stopped. And I told the professor what happened. Later the police took me to the hospital and I was in the hospital for around 5-6 hours,” Mr. Kumar added.
Kawalpreet Kaur later filed a complaint against the incident in the Maurice Nagar Police station. In a Facebook post, she also named two people who she claimed were among the attackers, Sandeep Sharma, a first year B.A. honours student at KMC and Mohit Dahiya, the President of the KMC unit of ABVP.
Counter allegations from ABVP
When DU Beat contacted the Bharat Khatana, the Delhi State Secretary at ABVP for a statement, he said that Mohit Dahiya had been wrongfully implicated. “This is election propaganda by AISA. Whoever did this was wrong because one shouldn’t raise your hand on a girl. But Sandeep Sharma is not a part of ABVP. Mohit bhaiyya is a part of ABVP, but he is not involved in the incident at all…I just met them at the police station. The police questioned Mohit bhaiyya and Sandeep, checked the CCTV footage from the college and then released Mohit bhaiyya.”
Accusing Ms. Kaur for making wrong allegations, Mr. Khatana added, “Kawalpreet was the first to slap Sandeep Sharma. We have filed a counter-complaint against Kawalpreet Kaur for wrongfully implicating Mohit bhaiyya. Both Sandeep and Kawalpreet slapped each other. There is no involvement of ABVP here. This is just a plot to wrongfully accuse ABVP in anything (wrong) that happens in the college.”
DU Beat also talked to Mohit Dahiya who blamed Ms. Kaur for making a false accusation. “Me and my friend were simply going towards the parking. I saw Kawalpreet and her two friends were contesting, were fighting with Sandeep Sharma. One of her friends said that here are two goondas from ABVP (at us). Sandeep had been ragged by Kawalpreet and others. I was standing away and I ran away to complain to the Principal office. I had no role in this.”
Mr. Dahiya, in turn, shared a video of two people from AISA, Shreya and Tanmay, who came to “threaten” him about his alleged role in the incident. In the video, Tanmay is seen to be saying before walking away, “Tell us who those two people were.” Shreya joined in saying, “You are a student of the college. You should have some shame that girls come here and you slap them.”
When Shreya, an activist of AISA, was asked about her comments, she told DU Beat, “We know that Mohit Dahiya was not directly involved in the violence. But he was there the whole time, he provoked them (the mob) that these were people from AISA and he was involved completely. When me and Tanmay went there because we were so angry with what happened with Kawalpreet, we looked for Mohit Dahiya, and we obviously asked them that who were those people. Mohit Dahiya and Rajat Choudhury were there and they started to be disrespectful to us. Such people should be dealt in such a way. If they behave with us like us, as a woman I am not going to stay quiet. It’s enough that they think that the girls won’t say anything even if we are faced with violence.”
Kawalpreet Kaur was recently also allegedly assaulted by a mob at Satyawati College. She accused the ABVP for being responsible for the incident. In a recent post, she accused the ABVP for spreading “vicious hate propaganda” against her, and trying to “delegitimize the incidents of harassment” faced by her. Regardless of the allegations from both sides, it is increasingly clear that this is one of the most violent election seasons at DU.
Feature Image Credits: Kawalpreet Kaur on Facebook
AISA President Kawalpreet Kaur was attacked by goons yesterday. With frequent attacks on students, the safety of North Campus students raises a serious concern.
On Saturday, 18th August 2018, the University of Delhi President of All India Student’s Association(AISA) Kawalpreet Kaur and her four friends were attacked by goons around 12:05 a.m. in Vijay Nagar Double Storey area of North Delhi.
Kawalpreet Kaur was with four of her friends, Ankit Pandey, Jatin Verma, Rishabh Mishra and, Aman Nawaz when the incident took place outside Dinesh General Store in Vijaynagar. Three to four goons tried to harass Kawalpreet and passed lewd comments. When one of her friends tried to stop the goons, they attacked them. After few minutes, four more people joined the goons. Some of them appeared heavily drunk. One of them carried a pistol along with him and pointed it towards Kawalpreet telling her that he would kill all of them. Kawalpreet moved inside a building and locked herself up to protect herself from the goons, But, her friends were brutally attacked by beer and glass bottles. Ankit Pandey and Jatin Verma have sustained some serious internal injuries and fractures along with bruises on face and head. The CCTV footage of Dinesh General Store clearly shows the horrifying incident.
Credits – Kawalpreet Kaur’s Facebook Profile
A FIR has been filed by Kawalpreet Kaur regarding the incident in Model Town Police Station.The sections of the Indian Penal Code applied are Section 308- Attempt to commit culpable homicide, Section 323-Punishmentof voluntarily causing hurt, Section 341-Punishment for wrongful restraint ,Section 509- Word,gesture or act intended to hurt the modesty of a woman, Section 506(ii)- Punishment for criminal intimidation, and, Section 34-Acts done by several persons in furtherance of a common intention.
Kawalpreet Kaur along with some students took out a march from Vijay Nagar to Model Town Police Station on 19th August 2018 against the hooliganism taking place in the area, the attacks on the students and, for the police to take swift action. Delhi Police has identified and arrested four people named Ayush, Rahul, Shubham and Monu regarding the same. One of these owns an ironing shop in Vijay Nagar. The person with the pistol has been identified as Pawan, from Sangam Vihar and is yet to be arrested by the Delhi Police.
DU Beat spoke to Kawalpreet Kaur on the issue. She said, “With such crimes rising day by day, a question arises on the safety and security of the students living in the campus area.” Kawalpreet also informed that the Delhi Police inspector of Model Town, Satish Kumar questioned her as to why she was outside her room around 12:15 a.m. instead she should have stayed inside.
In a protest held by the All India Student’s Federation (AISA) from the Civil Lines Metro Station to the residence of Chief Minister (CM) Arvind Kejriwal on 31st August 2018, the students demanded concessions for students travelling on AC buses.
Led by AISA leaders like President Kawalpreet Kaur and Secretary Madhurima Kundu, the thirty-odd strong group of students marched to Raj Niwas shouting slogans for the reduction in a price hike for AC buses.
Five members of the party including Ms. Kaur were allowed to go in to discuss their demands with the CM, while the rest of the students sat at dharna in front of the barricades outside the CM’s residence. After almost six hours of the sit-in protest, during which the party members outside sang protest songs and spoke about issues troubling the common student like fee hike, a conclusion was reached. In a press release, AISA members raised allegations of manhandling by the police inside the CM’s residence when a student from Hansraj College was kicked out. However, later they were soon called back into the CM’s office to wait. Finally, around 7 p.m. the CM met the student leaders and agreed to ensure the entire process for validation of the Student’s Bus passes.
AISA has been protesting for this issue since 25th January 2018 when they led another mass delegation of students to the CM’s office. The CM had then agreed to extend the validity of DTC bus passes from four months to six months for students and extended its preview to AC buses as well. However, since then, no such plan was executed.
In an official press release by AISA, the party mentions that the CM has agreed to complete the validation of the Student’s Bus Pass in AC buses within a month from 1st September. Mr. Kejriwal also tweeted recently about expediting the same.
Directed Transport Minister to expedite the proposal to allow student pass in AC buses also.
In the same press release, AISA also mentions that it will now continue to further their demand and meet the Housing and Urban Minister, Hardeep Puri, on 3rd August 2018, demanding metro concessional passes for students.
