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Hindu College Staff Association Passes Motion to Remove Acting Principal and GB

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In an emergent meeting held on 3rd July, the Hindu College Staff Association (HCSA) passed a unanimous resolution to remove the officiating Principal, Dr. Anju Srivastava, Dr. Ashok Mittal, and Chairman of Governing Body, Mr. S.N.P. Punj.

In the press release, the Staff Association has requested the Vice Chancellor of the University of Delhi (DU) to take the administration of the college from Hindu Education Trust to be changed into a university-run college. They have also appealed the Vice Chancellor to expand the Governing Body (GB) by bringing in more academics and teachers of the university.

HCSA has stated that it will approach authorities deemed appropriate by the executive to inform them of the tactics employed by the Chairman for his past moves for acquiring autonomy and a ‘Deemed University’ status. HCSA will not be restricted just to the Vice Chancellor, Delhi University, University Grants Commission Chairperson, Ministry of Human Resource Development, and Prime Minister’s Office.

In 2016, Chairman S.N.P. Punj had written to IAS Mr. Tarun Bajaj and Mr. Brijesh Pandey of Prime Minter’s Office seeking expansion and re-structuring of the college into The School of Sciences, School of Languages, and School of Social Sciences. In the letter, he proposed to start professional programs like B.Sc Microbiology, B.Sc Nanoscience, B.A. in Financial Services, B.A. in International Relations, and eight others on a self-financing basis. Some fundamental level courses like Environment and Public Health, Mind and Behaviour, and Governance and Citizenship were also suggested.  According to his plan, a chain of colleges would have opened in Haryana, Rajasthan, and Punjab under the Hindu College banner.

The matter escalated for the HCSA when it was found that the Chairman had applied to the Prime Minister’s Office for executive intervention to convert the college into a deemed university last year, which would speed up the process of expanding the brand name. The proposal was undertaken without the knowledge, consent, and mandate of the staff council and other GB members.

The President and Secretary of the HCSA have been threatened in the past with show cause notices for protesting against the proposed sale of the college to the highest bidder by the GB. Such steps were bound to lead to higher fees, more expensive hostels, lower academic standards, and dilution of constitutional equal opportunity norms.

In conversation with DU Beat, Professor Atul Gupta, Assistant Professor of Commerce, and Secretary of the Staff Association commented, “The teachers have been protesting against autonomy for two years and the Principal and the Chairman of the Governing Body have kept them in the dark. They are ready to sell the college and use the Hindu College brand name to earn money at the cost of students and teachers. My only appeal is to the students of the University to join the dharna from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Hindu College premises because this is the time to safeguard our colleges from getting prvitised.”

Kawalpreet Kaur, President of All India Students’ Association (AISA) Delhi, has vouched for AISA’s full support to Hindu College professors and their demands. She has claimed that the Principal and GB Chairman lied to the students and professors and secretly colluded with the government, it is completely illegal and unfair that important stakeholders were left out and not consulted, she remarked.

The HCSA will be sitting on the dharna for seven working days starting 4th July. If the authorities fail to concede to the demands, the HCSA will escalate the method of protest. On the last day of the dharna, a press conference will be held. A campaign on social media by the college has already begun under the hashtag, #SmashAutonomy.

 

Feature Image Credits: Hindu College Staff Association

Prachi Mehra

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SFI and AISA Demand Roll of Fee Hike in DU Colleges 

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The University of Delhi (DU) has commenced admissions to undergraduate courses from the 19th of June 2018. Significantly, this year’s admission season is marked by a pronounced fee hike in many courses across the varsity. 

Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and All India Students’ Association (AISA) have resisted this move towards fee hike. Interestingly, this hike comes at the backdrop of the teacher and student community’s struggle against the onslaught of ‘autonomy’ in DU’s affiliated colleges. 

In conversation with DU Beat, Vandana Kaul, a Professor at Deshbandhu College, said, “The fee hike is indeed serious. We saw that in the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) strike, students and karamcharis had both expressed their grievances against the fragmentation and privatisation of DU through graded autonomy. The fee hike is a consequence of this move towards autonomy.”

Madhurima Kundu, Secretary of AISA’s DU unit, told the DU Beat correspondent, “On the first day of this year’s admission season, we had protested in front of the Vice Chancellor’s (VC) office. We had met the Dean of Students’ Welfare as well. We were informed that the hike in fees was carried out without knowledge of the varsity. Now, we will be holding protests in the colleges where fee hike has taken place.”

Meanwhile, in a phone call conversation with DU Beat, Anshika Dutta, a DU applicant of this academic session testified, “I have taken admission in Kamla Nehru College for B.Com (Hons) in the first list. And I had to pay over INR 13,000 for my admission.”

At Dyal Singh College, the fee was increased last year as well. The staff council has asked for a roll-back, alleging that it was done without the Governing Body’s (GB) nod. The circular which reached DU Beat through a representative of the SFI read, “In Dyal Singh College, Garden Fee has been hiked from INR 25 to INR 300, Annual Day fees from INR 30 to INR 300, Sports fees from INR 600 to INR 1500..”

Countering the claims that the fee hike was done without the approval of the GB, Principal IS Bakshi said, “The rule is, once the fee hike was decided by the Chairman, it has to be approved by the GB. I have placed it on the agenda. If re-thinking needs to be done, we will decide then.”

Some DU colleges have increased their fee citing a hike in hostel and maintenance fee. Deen Dyal Upadhyaya (DDU) College has increased its fees by almost INR 4,000. “There is a marginal increase of INR 4,000, as the annual maintenance fee of the new campus comes up to INR 3- 4 crore”, said SK Garg, Principal of DDU. The SFI’s circular informed DU Beat that in the fees of Humanities stream of the college, there has been a hike of 36%.

SFI, through its circular, has sent out a warning to the DU administration to immediately revoke the “anti-student fee hike”. The circular concluded on the note that the SFI will intensify the movement against fee-hike and autonomy in the days to come as they plan “to resist the attacks on public funded education.”

Feature Image Credits: Free Press Journal

Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak

[email protected]

 

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UGC to Visit St. Stephen’s College Amidst Dissent Against Autonomy

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A team from the University Grants Commission is set to visit St. Stephen’s College on 10th and 11th May 2018, after the Governing Body (GB) of the college had in-principle agreed to apply for autonomy.

The most recent development in the fight against commercialisation of public education through privatisation, the University Grants Commission (UGC) is going to be visiting the campus of St. Stephen’s College for an inspection on 10th-11th May 2018. This visit is a consequence of the Governing Body of the college agreeing in-principle to apply for autonomy.

The issue of autonomy has been much talked about in the University of Delhi this year, with several protests being organised and students as well as teachers’ speaking out against this pressing issue.

Nandita Narain, a senior professor from the maths department of St. Stephen’s College, told DU Beat “44 out of 56 permanent teachers of the college have written to the UGC in opposition to this move in which we have outlined our objection against the way this decision was taken, in an emergency meeting of the GB last year, without any kind of consultation from the teachers, karamcharis, and students, who are the primary stakeholders.”

Adding to the objections raised by the teachers, she further said, “There is no clarity surrounding the implications of this move as no clear picture has been laid out regarding the financial structure of the college, the regulation of fees, and the service conditions of the teachers. The fate of the Ad-hoc teachers’ is also shaky.” She pointed out that there is nothing to gain from this move, as the college is not equipped to take on the massive administrative and academic burdens that will come with autonomy. Questioning the functioning of the administration, she also told the DU Beat correspondent that the present management functions in an arbitrary and non-transparent manner.

Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) and All India Students’ Association (AISA) are conducting protests outside St. Stephen’s College tomorrow at 10 a.m., when the UGC visit is scheduled. AISA has also started a signature campaign to oppose this move. In a phone conversation with DU Beat, Kawalpreet Kaur, Head of AISA’s Delhi University Unit said, “We have been conducting a signature campaign since the examinations started, by putting up a desk at the Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station in the evening. Tomorrow, we will also be protesting along with DUTA when the UGC visit is scheduled, to convey that we are against the arbitrary manner in which the decisions are being taken by the administration, when the students and teachers are totally in opposition to this move. Through the signature campaign, we have aimed to start a long-term agitation against this move towards autonomy, and we will also be actively protesting any fee hikes that will happen in the coming semesters in any colleges of DU.”

 

Feature Image Credits: St. Stephen’s College

Bhavya Banerjee

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AISA Burns Effigy of Modi Government in Support of Bharat Bandh

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On 20th March 2018, the Supreme Court through a ruling had allegedly diluted the Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989, which protects the marginalised communities against discrimination and atrocities.

It had issued a slew of guidelines banning automatic arrests and registration of criminal cases under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 without conducting a preliminary enquiry.

This means that the arrest of an accused under the aforementioned Act is not mandatory and action would take place only after preliminary inquiry and sanction by the competent authority has taken place.

This verdict of the highest court had triggered widespread criticism from the Dalit community which fears that this order will lead to more discrimination and atrocities against the backward communities. Dalit organisations called for a Bharat Bandh today to protest against the alleged dilution of the act.

In support of the ‘bandh’, the All India Students’ Association (AISA) burnt the effigy of the Modi Government in front of the Arts Faculty on Monday. President of AISA (DU unit) Kawalpreet Kaur remarked, “The Modi government is the biggest anti-Dalit government to come to power.”

Speaking to the crowd which had gathered to witness the effigy burning, she asserted, “We know that the Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989 was in itself a weak act. Neither was it ever implemented properly. But the new ruling of the Apex Court which dilutes the already weak provisions of the 1989 Act would render the disadvantaged communities completely vulnerable to discrimination and atrocities.”

The protesters raised slogans such as, “Minority Pe Atyachaar Bandh Karo” (Stop atrocities against minorities), “SC-ST Kanoon Mein Badlav Nahi Chalega” (We will not allow changes in the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act) and “Modi Sarkar Murdabad” (Down with the Modi government). Members of the AISA also burnt effigies of the government at Aurobindo College, Satyawati College, and Jamia Milia Islamia.

 

 

Feature Image Credits: Kawalpreet Kaur

Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak
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AISA and NSUI Join Protest against Alleged Leak of SSC Exam Papers

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The ongoing protest against the leaked SSC papers has now been joined by student political units AISA and NSUI.  

In a development considered ‘supportive’ by observers, leaders of the political units AISA (All India Student’s Association) and NSUI (National Student’s Association of India) joined the students protesting against the alleged leak of Staff Selection Commission (SSC) exam papers, on 16th March 2018.

The indefinite protest over the examination, which was conducted in February, has witnessed hundreds of aspirants protesting in the CGO complex, which houses the SSC headquarters. Since February 27, they have been demanding a time-bound CBI probe under the supervision of the Supreme Court into all SSC exams and the commission’s functioning. Secondly, they are demanding a stay order on all SSC exams until completion of CBI inquiry into the matter.

Responding to queries from the DU Beat correspondent, DUSU President Rocky Tuseed, who was present with the protesting students on Friday said, “We demand the suspension of SSC Chairman Ashim Khurana, and the resignation of Minister Jitendra Singh. The fight is not only against the isolated incident of leaked papers. Besides this, the SSC has delayed the joining of candidates who qualified two years ago. These anomalies speak volumes about the incompetence of the board and the government. ”

Speaking along similar lines with the DU Beat correspondent, President of AISA (DU) Kawalpreet Kaur, who was also present on the site of protest, remarked, “The students are not only demanding a CBI probe into this particular incident. They are linking this protest to a larger struggle against the numerous recruitment scams which are happening.”

When the correspondent mentioned the political mudslinging revolving this issue, Kaur stated, “Somebody has to take responsibility. It has been 15-18 days that the students have been sitting here. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said that a CBI enquiry has been ordered. But the students are not satisfied because nothing is progressing.”

In a phone call conversation with this correspondent, Vice President of DUSU Kunal Sehrawat, said, “The students have taken to the streets to demand justice. Itna Time Ho Chuka Hai (It has been so long). The government must take responsibility. The student community has our full support.”

The protesters, today, were reinforced by the presence of Fairoz Khan, National President of NSUI and Sucheta De, National President of AISA, besides other prominent leaders. Shedding light on a different version of the scam, Chairman of SSC Ashim Khurana contended, “We have knowledge that certain coaching institutes are manipulating and escalating the protest. Once the exam is cancelled, they may offer a crash course to candidates’ ace it earning quick bucks in the process.”

Amidst the mudslinging being undertaken by the administration, one beacon of hope is provided by the student political units standing against the grave injustice being meted out to the aspirants, thus paving the way for a united student community at the face of a divided administration.

Feature Image Credits: NSUI

 Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak

 [email protected]

 

 

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ABVP Accussed of Disrupting Event, Abusing Teachers and Students at Satyawati College

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Kawalpreet Kaur, the University of Delhi (DU) President of All India Students’ Association (AISA), has alleged that she was harassed and verbally abused by students affiliated to the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) at an event at Satyawati College, on 22nd February 2018. Some students and teachers of Satyawati College also alleged that the members of the ABVP had disrupted the event for which Kawalpreet Kaur was invited as a panelist.

After the incident, the staff council at Satyawati College held a meeting and passed a unanimous resolution condemning the incident. They also suspended two of those ostensibly involved in the disruption, namely Kunal Yadav and Aman Awana, students of the same college.

During a phone call conversation with the DU Beat correspondent, Kawalpreet described the incident, “I had finished speaking and was sitting in the front row with the organisers when a group of 30-40 students -all males- barged into the auditorium demanding that I be kicked out of college immediately. At that time, the teachers started to negotiate with the students. But they continued with their hooliganism. During the same, they started verbally abusing the professors and were also targeting me. In fact, some of the professors were manhandled as well.” She further stated, “Even the Principal had taken the podium and requested these students to maintain the dignity of the college. But she was booed down.” Thereafter, Kawalpreet filed a complaint at the Bharat Nagar police station against the members of the ABVP on February 23rd.

On being asked about their side of the story, Kunal Yadav, Secretary of Satyawati College Students’ Union who was suspended for purportedly disrupting the event, said, “We were protesting because Kawalpreet Kaur was banned from our college last year. She came for the college fest and then later filed molestation complaints against some students. After that, the college banned her. We didn’t want something of that sort to happen again, so we were talking to our professors and saying that if her event is over, she should leave.”

However, during the phone call with the DU Beat correspondent, Kawalpreet asserted, “I was never banned from the college and the Principal has confirmed this. In fact, such a ban cannot be proposed against me because I myself am a student of DU.”

When the DU Beat correspondent approached Saket Bahuguna, National Media Convener of ABVP, he said, “The protests were done by the Students’ Union of Satyawati College. Some of them are our members, but none of them are ABVP office bearers. Kawalpreet is very tactical. She knows that if she mentions ABVP, she’ll get all the media attention. It is like Arvind Kejriwal blaming Modi all the time whereas Modi is not even present.”

 

Feature Image Credits: The Hindustan Times
Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak
[email protected]

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Students March to PMO Demanding a Rollback of Metro Fare Hike

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The student fraternity of Delhi, led by the All India Students’ Association (AISA), marched from the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in the afternoon of 8th February 2017.

Demanding the rollback of the metro fare hike and metro concessional passes for students, the students engaged in spirited sloganeering like, “Aaj Hartal Kal Hartal, Naa Mane Toh Dera Daal” (we’ll protest every day, until our demands are met), “Saste Metro Ka Adhikar Mangte, Nahi Kisise Bheek Mangte” (we will ask for our right to affordable metro, we will not beg), “Delhi Police Sharam Karo, Sharam Nahi Toh Doob Maro” (Shame on you, Delhi Police).

Once in front of the PMO, the students were met with barricades and a cordon of policemen blocking their way.
As the students ambushed a few barricades, DU AISA President, Kawalpreet Kaur gave an ultimatum to the police, “The Delhi Police has 10 minutes. If within 10 minutes, a representative of the PMO doesn’t communicate with us, then no matter how many thousands of barricades you put up, we’ll break them all.”

Responding to questions regarding their motives, she declared, “We’re not here to engage in ‘Chai Pe Charcha’ with the PM. Whether you give us green tea or black tea, we’re here solely for two demands: one, roll back the metro fare hike; and two, provide metro concessional passes to students.”

Kaur, in her impassioned speech, further said, “Students don’t have an earning source. The fare hike has affected our monthly budget. Not only the students, but Delhi’s common people are being affected. That’s why Delhi Metro ridership has lost 1 crore people. We want to ask Modiji, “who are the 1 crore people?”. They are the common people who shed their blood and sweat every day. If those 1 crore people aren’t being able to afford the metro, what’s the use of the metro being a public transport? Shut it down.”

When there were still 8 minutes left, the gathering received a notification from the PMO which asked a delegation to be sent inside the office. Thereafter a delegation of 5 students representing the 5 different universities- DU, JNU, IPU, AUD and Jamia Milia, was sent inside.

Following this, Madhurima Kundu, Delhi State Vice President of AISA told the correspondent, “PM Modi always talks about the youth being the future of our nation. When today, the youth has come out to the streets he has to take responsibility and listen to our demands.”

On being asked about their future course of action, AISA State Secretary Niraj Kumar remarked with resolve, “The delegation met a representative of the PMO, and handed over the memorandum of demands. The PMO has taken a time period of seven days within which they would reciprocate to our demands. Meanwhile, we shall continue to struggle against this injustice.”

Feature Image Credits: Hemantika Singh and Prakash, AISA

Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak
[email protected]

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Kejriwal Meets Students, Accept Demands of Cheaper Transportation

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Taking forward the struggle for roll-back of the metro fare hike and better public transport in Delhi, a mass delegation of students from almost 30 colleges marched to the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s house and had a meeting that lasted almost 2 hours. The resolute students, led by the All India Students’ Association, marched from the Civil Lines Metro Station to Raj Niwas in the afternoon of 25th January, 2018.

In a monumental development, the CM extended his full support to the ongoing movement for rolling back the metro fare hike and accepted most of the students’ other demands relating to Delhi public transport. Granting major relief to the students of University of Delhi, the delegation managed to convince the CM to extend the validity of DTC bus passes for students. The student bus pass which was till now valid for four months, will henceforth be valid for 6 months.

Speaking on their second achievement, AISA DU President Kawalpreet Kaur remarked, “Student bus passes were hitherto valid only in non-AC busses. And it had been our long-standing demand that the passes be made valid for AC busses as well, a demand which was immediately accepted by the CM.”

Moreover, in a noteworthy accomplishment, the students’ delegation also persuaded the CM to introduce university-special busses and women-special busses as well as increase the number of DTC busses by 2000, a significant move which will enhance connectivity with Delhi University colleges. Towards this end, AISA State Secretary Niraj Kumar remarked, “The CM has asked for a period of 6 months to materialise this promise.”

When asked about their future course of action, AISA National President Sucheta De said, “Now, in a few days’ time, we will take a delegation to the PM, since he is a major stakeholder in our struggle for more effective public transport in Delhi.”

 

Feature Image Credits: Niraj Kumar, AISA

Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak

[email protected]

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Students Protest to Demand a Rollback of Metro Fare Hike

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In a landmark step to pressurise the government into rolling back the metro fare hike which came into effect in May and October of 2017, the All India Students’ Association (AISA) held a strike in the Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station from 1pm on the 18th of January.

The protest “Occupy Vishwavidyalaya” witnessed a number of students, led by the AISA, block Gate 3 of the metro station in a bid to ‘occupy’ the same until the government accepted their demands of immediate rollback of the metro fare hike and giving metro consessional passes to all DU students.

Senior members of AISA Neeraj Kumar, Sucheta Dey, and Sunny Kumar along with ardent supporters raised slogans like “fare hike dhokha hai” (fare hike is betrayal), “metro pass dena hoga” (the government will have to give metro concessional passes), and “paee paee occupy (occupy every inch)”.

In the context where an estimated 2.8 million passengers travel daily on the capital’s metro, the DMRC had recorded a fall in ridership when it had hiked the metro fare twice in 2017. This move had been exceptionally hard-hitting for the students of DU, many of whom have to travel long distances to come to college.

At the face of several policemen being stationed at the metro station to control any law and order situation that might crop up, AISA President (DU) Kawalpreet Kaur, in her impassioned speech, invoked the crowd to block Gate 3 and pledged not to move until either the DMRC or the government heeds their demands. Terming the fare hike as “unacceptable”, Kawalpreet said, “This metro is named Vishwavidyalaya and yet the students themselves aren’t able to use the metro. So what is the point of calling this metro station ‘Vishwavidyalaya’? The fare hike has compelled the students to either use other means of transportation or even skip college on days at an end. This inability to access the university campus also amounts to denial of education.”

It is noteworthy that even last October, AISA had held a demonstration in the Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station to pressurise the government on this issue. However, AISA National President Sucheta Dey today claimed that till date, there has been no communication from the DMRC in response to the same. On being asked by the DU Beat correspondent regarding their course of action if the police forcefully tries to evacuate the gathering, AISA State Secretary Neeraj Kumar said, “We have raised our voice in a peaceful manner. Any unprecedented step by the police would go against the law. In a passionate reference to the legacy of student protesters, Kawalpreet discerned that it was because of the protests by the students of DU a few years back that student passes for DTC busses were made available.

While Delhi Metro has lost 3 lakh commuters after the fare hike in October, there is an apprehension that by 2019, the metro fare will double itself. At the backdrop of the DMRC’s reticence on the issue, the question that various student quarters of DU are asking is, if Kolkata can have metro concessional passes for students, why can’t Delhi? While the aam janta shouts, “mehengi metro nahi chalegi” (costly metro will not be allowed), is the government listening?

 

Feature Image Credits: P.V. Purnima for DU Beat.

Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak 

[email protected]

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Kawalpreet Kaur’s Picture Morphing Issue: From Bullets to Photoshop, the Many Shades of Pakistani Offense

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Every second of the minute, every minute of the hour, every hour of the day, Southeast Asia runs the threat of a full-fledged war between the two nuclear-enabled countries, India and Pakistan. If the grave possibility of a nuclear (the N word is to Southeast Asia what Voldemort is to Hogwarts) threat wasn’t bad enough, now we have Pakistani websites adding fuel to the ignited tension between the two neighbours.

The Pakistan Defense Forum (PDF), which is famous within the Indian and Pakistani defence enthusiasts circles, as a forum for debate and deliberation on Pakistani defence, strategic and security issues, has drawn flak internationally. Their move to upload a morphed picture of Indian student activist Kawalpreet Kaur had led Twitter to suspend the verified account of this unofficial forum on Saturday.
In the original photograph, Delhi University student Kawalpreet is standing infront of the Jama Masjid, holding up a sheet of paper that bears the message: “I am a citizen of India and I stand with secular values of our Constitution. I will write against communal mob lynching of Muslims in our country #CitizensAgainstMobLynching.”

But in the image the Pakistan Defence Forum tweeted, the text had changed: “I am an Indian, but I hate India, because India is a colonial nation that has occupied nations such as Nagas, Kashmiris, Manipuris, Hyderabad, Junagard, Sikkim, Mizoram, Goa.” Attached to the image, Pakistan Defence Forum tweeted, “Indians are finally realizing the truth; their country is actually a colonialist entity.” It deleted the tweet later. Having both retired and serving military personnel among it’s members, this is not the first time the PDF has attempted to perpetuate hate propaganda against India.

With almost 308,500 followers, Pakistan Defence Forum’s Twitter handle interestingly had more threads about India than Pakistan. But what is more interesting is the element of choice exercised by PDF’s social media team. Kawalpreet, a senior member of the All India Student’s Association, has been active in DU politics for long and is a well-known face in the student politics of Delhi. A crucial question to be asked at this point of time is, why her? For all that PDF’s social media expertise is worth, it could have morphed any photograph to communicate their hate propaganda against India, but it chose to target a student’s union leader studying in the premier institution of the country. In this context, is a controversy afoot to deliberately target a high-flying student activist, or can it simply be considered a PJ by the PDF? Using a morphed picture on such a sensitive issue not only has the possibility of fuelling greater tension between the two neighbours but could also put this girl’s life in danger. To this effect has been outrage expressed by the student community of DU and other institutions. The issue of Kaur’s photo being doctored was also flagged by Shehla Rashid, the former vice president of JNU Students Union, who contended that forum should not use such images in the name of the Kashmir issue.

Considering its legacy, PDF must have strategised their actions and policies more carefully if they wish to remain relevant in their chosen crusade of helping Pakistan’s image. Food (read: feud) for Thought: Substance will win over image any time, all the time.
What is astoundingly outrageous is the instance of a senior member of the Pakistan Defense Forum retorting back to the criticism in the official page of PDF in the words, “The amount of shameless fake propaganda Indians do against us, there is-nothing wrong in us doing the same against India. Well done PDF.” If offense is the best defense that PDF could muster, they could have atleast recruited better photoshop experts.

 

Feature Image Credits: Times of India 

Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak

[email protected]

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