Ever since the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) announced a fare hike, the University of Delhi has been raging with a number of sit-ins and demonstrations. On Friday, Vishwavidyalaya metro station, the epicentre of all anti-fare hike protests, saw yet another demonstration.
At 1 p.m., about 50 students predominantly belonging to the All India Students’ Association (AISA) and the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) formed a human chain outside the Vishwavidyalaya metro station to protest against the metro fare hike. They demanded metro concessional passes for students. The human chain gained the attention of many onlookers who also joined in.
Talking to DU Beat about the demonstration, Kawalpreet Kaur, President of AISA DU asserted, “The whole hike in fare shows that the government is only catering to the rich and has no empathy for the common people. Within six months the fare has increased tremendously. The Delhi Metro is a public entity and not a profit-making body for whose profit the fare is being increased. I believe that it is the student community who will suffer the most. We will not swallow this yet another increase and will organise a huge movement in coming days until the hike is rolled back. Also, we demand that DU students should be given special concessional passes for the metro.”
Another student who participated in the human chain said, “We are not claiming that these things will lead to any concrete result, but at least we are trying to make our voices heard. Sometimes just dissent in itself is important.”
Earlier on Monday, a group of activists from the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) had a sit-in at Vishwavidyalaya metro station and stopped the train in its tracks. It briefly disrupted metro services.
While agitation for affordable transportation is necessary, whether or not these protests will result in policy change can only be established with time.
Feature Image Credits: All India Students’ Association
The student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, a prominent leftist party on the campus of Delhi University and a staunch opponent of the party politics of DUSU’s ruling party’s muscle-power and money, All India Students’ Association (AISA) recently released a press release prior to upcoming DUSU elections. The press release acts as an announcement by its candidates their unambiguous stand on ABVP’s alleged violence during the Ramjas College protests earlier this year in the month of February.
The Ramjas College protests transpired on a fateful Wednesday afternoon when ABVP members arrived within the college premises to disrupt a literary event which invited speakers like Umar Khaled and Shehla Rashid. Parties like AISA and SFI (The Students’ Federation of India) were in the forefront protesting against ABVP’s alleged hooliganism-turned-violent activities.
Since then, AISA has been campaigning for a freer and safer, non-violent campus which provides a space for uninterrupted discourse of ideas, however controversial it be.
The party claims, if in power it will address issues of -Affordable accommodation -Affordable transportation -Violence free campus
Parul Chauhan, a third year student from Satyawati College (Evening) contesting for the post of president said that “This DUSU election is being fought in the backdrop of Ramjas Incident in which the goons of ABVP assaulted both students and teachers. Instead of working for the benefit of students the ABVP has only perpetuated violence in the campus. They have repeatedly failed in their promises of building hostel and in fact have ended up promoting PG’s.
If AISA is elected to union, we will ensure that the DUSU election post 2017 will be free from all malpractices and even common students like me will have a fair chance of contesting DUSU elections against the money muscle power of ABVP”. Akash Gupta a student of Law Faculty and former student of Deshbandhu College contesting for the post of Joint Secretary said that “the biggest issue Delhi University is facing right now is that of campus violence which is single handedly perpetuated by ABVP across Delhi University. He recounted how ABVP tried to disrupt seminar on Ambedkar in Deshbandhu college, beat up activists in Shaheed Bhagat Singh and PGDAV college. He also said that the incidences of Violence by ABVP is not only limited to North Campus, but also in almost all colleges of Delhi University, because of which common students live in perpetual terror of ABVP goons.
“We have seen how for the last 40 years the DUSU has been made a launch pad for the ABVP/NSUI goons who invest huge sum of money just to win DUSU elections and launch their political career. Our objective is to reclaim the DUSU from the hands of castiest, feudal, communalist ABVP and give it back to the common students. We aim to make DUSU a platform of struggle instead of a platform for enjoyment where last DUSU office bearers ate tea and snacks of 21 lakhs ” said Kawalpreet Kaur President of DU AISA.
Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections are just around the corner and the anticipation is palpable even from quite a distance. With just a fortnight before its commencement, All India Students’ Association (AISA) has urged Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s intervention in subsuming the unwarranted and illegitimate practices of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliated Right Wing students’ political body Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
AISA has openly raised arguments about the alleged unethical behavior of ABVP goons and brought to light the ill temperament of right student wing delinquents in the university campus and particularly highlighted their near malevolent attitude towards Kawalpreet Kaur, AISA President, by calling her an “anti-national slut” and allegedly outraging her modesty.
“The ABVP has become the censor board in the campus and reserves the authority on what is allowed and what is not allowed…. The election cannot be free and fair as long as their violence continues,” Kawalpreet Kaur told the press of IANS live.
She has demanded the Delhi University’s administration to refrain from letting ABVP contest in the elections on account of their homicidal behavior during the incident in Ramjas College. She showed pictures of Ankit Basoya and Mahamedha Nagar, ABVP candidates, attacking protesters during the Ramjas incident. She also spoke about the fear that ABVP has entrenched in the campus with their blatant hooliganism.
They have drawn a very subtle parallel between Modi’s “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” campaign and ABVP’s alleged reputation for shamelessly using force on women and their supposed misogynistic treatment of the ilk. They have also suggested failure of Modi’s “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan” under ABVP’s election campaigning which unabashedly involved soiling the varsity spaces with party pamphlets.
Sanjay Bohidar, a DU professor expressed his agitation towards ABVP in general and the government in particular for letting unscrupulous elements like that of ABVP to prosper. He was of the opinion that an atmosphere where even the police is under dire pressure and ceases to deliver justice, is anti-education, not because of one ideology domineering over the others but because of consensus of a common view under the ambit of that ideology.
He also recalled former DUSU President, Satender Awana’s outright tongue lashing at St. Stephen’s teacher, Nandita Narain and Law Faculty Dean Ved Kumari and how despite the severity of the event, the lack of prosecution by either the police or the university administration.
A video which went viral on social media platforms last year, witnessed Satender Awana verbally tormenting Ved Kumari in the presence of police and general public.
Another teacher from Shri Ram College of Commerce was of the view that the university premises lacked basic freedom and that there was no exhibition of cultural activities by any organisation other than ABVP.
In the light of the Ramjas incident which took place in February this year, AISA members accused ABVP, the alleged conspirers for physical assault and repeated threats. Similar cases have also undergone police intervention and legal trial. A very recent example of the same is Kawalpreet Kaur’s alleged harassment by ABVP activists in Satyawati College, immediately after which she approached the police to file an FIR.
The varsity is no doubt a sight of uneasy and murky politics as the election season unfolds and sets to witness the polls on September 12.
On August 16,2017 All India Students’ Association (AISA) President, Kawalpreet Kaur filed an FIR against Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members claiming charges of physical restraint and verbal abuse , while she had gone to Satyawati College for some academic work. Ms Kaur alleged in her complaint that ABVP members tried to bully her and called her an ‘anti-national slut’. She also proclaimed that the Principal of Satyawati College helped her to reach out to the police.
In a series of events following this incident, Satyawati College Principal on August 21,2017 in a press release claimed the incident as hoax and even wrote to the SHO, ACP and DCP of Bharat Nagar Police Station mentioning that all charges put by Ms. Kaur, who is an outsider, are fake. In an official statement to DU Beat by the Media Convenor of ABVP, Mr. Saket Bahuguna condemned the systematic propaganda and slander campaign against ABVP by some communists. The statement read as,” Repeatedly, Ms. Kaur and her comrades have tried to spread canards about our organization to get some publicity , especially after she and her Naxal- supporting organisation was rejected by the student community in the DUSU elections.”
ABVP expressed shame on the half- heard defamation charges without any solid evidence and their publicity by some media groups without knowing the entire reality from the students or authorities of Satyawati College . Keeping the upcoming Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections in mind, AISA tried to spread slander and lies against ABVP and maligned its members’ image as claimed by the organisation of ABVP.
AISA in a press release on August 23, 2017, following these remarks carried out a signature campaign in support of Kawalpreet Kaur . Ms Kaur said, “It is really saddening that the principal has given into the pressure of ABVP. Such a statement by the Principal attempts to derail the entire case. Also , we have the call recordings and many messages that were sent to my friends in Satyawati to persuade me to take the case back as well as the ‘receiving’ which was duly claimed by the Principal at the time of the incident. Thus , the Principal’s recent statement of denial stands false.” Niraj Kumar, State Secretary of Delhi State AISA said,” Why is the Principal shielding the culprits? It is this shielding that gives the audacity to harass women. We demand that the police should ensure a proper enquiry in the matter.”
The Principal in his statement mentions that the college opinion was not taken into account by the police department which is eagerly supported by the ABVP as well. It is all up to the police now to follow the due process of law and testify the truth as the matters have heated up now.
As the election season is round the corner, there are a few questions we need to ask ourselves before you cast your precious vote. For the past many years these student unions have been releasing majestic manifestos. Has there been any progress? Has the University witnessed a change?
If you go through the manifestos of different parties, you’ll realise how similar they are in the amenities, provisions and campaigning techniques. The consecutive years have seen no major change in these manifestos; they remain focused on providing a safe environment for women, affordable hostel facilities, proper implementation of the Choice Based Credit System, formation of a North Eastern Cell, encouragement of anti-ragging and anti-discriminatory practices, and so on.
One might argue that change doesn’t happen in a day but the fact that certain parties have backed a seat or two (or more) in DUSU elections year after year and still the agendas they put forth remain the same is a matter of great concern. The students of the University of Delhi need to question their political presence and the allocation of resources that they garner.
Talking of ABVP, since 2014, certain bullet points have maintained their place in the list of agendas even after them coming consecutively to power. They include having a bank account for all the students of the University, hostels, safety from sexual harassment and discrimination, North East progression and preservation of their culture and rights, etc. It is alarming that such issues of grave concern still remain left to be addressed. The same story continues if we look at the manifesto of NSUI or even that of AISA.
Political ideology and inclination is what separates them because the demands and needs of the students are basic and every party knows the importance to assure the basic minimum requirements in their own ways. The problem arises when after capturing the seats, the funds are misused or muscle power becomes the means to address issues, staff and students alike.
One way by which we, being aware citizens of this University, can ensure greater credibility, responsibility and participation from their side is by continuously questioning them through the means of different forums regarding their earlier manifestos and the allocation of funds. The fact that we are the largest democracy of the world gives us an advantage over these parties who live in a constant fear of losing elections if they don’t perform to the best of their abilities. We have to target this weakness of them because this one vote that all of us have is our greatest strength.
On 22nd August 2017, the All India Students Association (AISA) conducted a march called “DU Demands” in North Campus, University of Delhi. Kawalpreet Kaur, the organisation’s President at the DU level, said, “There are three central purposes behind the march – the problem of accommodation, violence, and the demand for the reestablishment of university special buses and metro passes to make travel easier for students of Delhi University”.
Kaur stressed upon the fact that there is a severe lack of hostels in Delhi University and reiterated that a no-tolerance policy must be implemented in DU against violence, referring to the Ramjas incident where numerous students were hurt due to violence from the involvement of several political parties in February 2017. She also laid emphasis on the immense cost incurred by DU students who travel from a large distance to their respective colleges and how the introduction of university special buses and special metro passes could contribute to solve this problem. Through this march, AISA wanted to make these demands known to the Vice Chancellor of Delhi University.
The march began at the Arts Faculty at 1 p.m., where over 100 students had gathered from both off-campus and on-campus colleges like Deshbandhu College, Kirori Mal College, Miranda House, etc. to show their support. The students carried AISA banners that had the three demands mentioned on them. Kawalpreet Kaur addressed the gathering where she reiterated the purpose of their meeting and motivated the students to raise slogans and march with them. The students then proceeded towards Ramjas College where they went inside the campus and raised several slogans like “DUSU ka itehaas badal do“, “Dekho kaise garaj ke aaya AISA AISA, Bhagat Singh ka naya roop hai AISA”, “Vice Chancellor khabardar“, “Hostel ke liye kon ladega: AISA”, “Hostel ka adhikar maangte, nahi kissi se bheek maangte“.
During the march, the students also raised several slogans against the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) by chanting “Gundagardi nahi sahenge, pathar maaro nahi sahenge, inqalab zindabad, ABVP haye-haye“.
Rupal Anand, a student of Ramjas College said, “The march by AISA was a great disruption to our classes as they were shouting very loudly.” From Ramjas, the march continued towards Hindu College and ended at Kirori Mal College.
In another case of assault by ABVP members, Kawalpreet Kaur, the president of Delhi University All India Students Association (AISA) has alleged harassment by ABVP members as she visited Satyawati College. She alleges that the ABVP members harassed her, tried to physically restrain her and verbally abused her.
She has lodged a FIR against members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of RSS. The FIR has been registered under Section 154 of CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure) along with Sections 354, 354(A), 509, 341 within the IPC 1860 Act against the ABVP activists. The police complaint has been filed against Vikram Singh Tomar, ABVP convenor of Satyawati College, Dharamprakash, Adw-ait Sharma, Mantu Sharma and few unknown activists.
[quote]I had gone to Satyawati College in order to meet a professor there for my own academic work as well as to meet some of my friends and AISA activists. As soon I entered the college ABVP members gathered around me and started harassing me[/quote]
-Kawalpreet Kaur, AISA President, Delhi University
She alleged that the ABVP activists tried to bully her by saying ‘tum kya kar rahi ho’, ‘show us your ID card’, ‘we shall not tolerate any anti-national activities here’, ‘Satyawati ko Ramjas nahi ban ne denge’. She resisted by saying that it was her right to visit any college. After this, the ABVP members started shooting her videos on their phones. As she resisted their action, she was abused by Dharam Prakash, whom she alleges as an outsider. “They questioned my nationality, called me a slut”, says Kawalpreet. Meanwhile, one of the students who asked ABVP members to steer clear of her way was also roughed up by them.
Later hearing the commotion, the Principal of the college reached the scene and dispersed the crowd. “He supported me and helped me file a complaint against them”, says Kawalpreet. She expects the police to take strict action against those who advocate for goonda-gardi in the campus.
A “Poetry Procession” was organized by All India Student’s Association(AISA) at the University Of Delhi on 4th August (Friday). Students and AISA activists took out a poetry march with the theme “Harmony shall win.’ The march visited Ramjas College, Hindu College & Kirori Mal College protesting against the allegedly growing number of violent incidents on campus, reported Hindustan Times.
The students’ march from the front gate of Arts Faculty was followed by a large number of alert policemen, many of them in riot gear. Raising banners and singing songs, the marchers reached Ramjas College and took their procession inside the College campus.
When the participants entered Ramjas College, they were met by protests by members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), who shouted slogans like “anti-national AISA get out of campus.” Slogans of “AISA campus chodo” and “Deshdrohi naare lagane walon, wapas jao” were also heard. Police officers accompanying the procession prevented any untoward incident.
While speaking to Hindustan Times Saket Bahuguna, the National media convener of ABVP denied the presence of any ABVP activists there and said that the resisting students were probably Ramjas Students. But one of the ABVP members Sudhir Dedha while speaking to Times of India accepted the fact that it was ABVP members who protested against the march. He said, “We will not tolerate their presence and will keep protesting against them.’
At Hindu College, the students were not allowed to enter the premises hence they registered their protest by singing songs and reading poetry outside the college gates. Hindu College principal Anju Shrivastava, however, said she had been busy at the time and was not even aware of the protest at the college gates or that they were denied entry.
Meanwhile speaking to Hindustan Times about the reason behind the protests, Kawalpreet Kaur said “We wanted to break the silence, that is borne out of fear amongst many in Delhi University Campus. In the light of what has happened in Ramjas, SRCC, and other DU colleges, we wanted to convey a message that violence on campus cannot be normalized.”
After nearly five months of the incident of obstruction of a seminar and the subsequent violence at Ramjas College that followed, the issue has taken a new turn. In a recent Action Taken Report(ATR) filed by the Delhi Police in the court, it was initially reported by some news papers that professors who led the protest against ABVP allegedly raised anti-national slogans. The Delhi Police report, submitted by the joint commissioner, in regard to the earlier court report, stated that some of the administrative staff and professors were also a part of the protest. The videos were later found to be fake by Delhi Police.
The professors were accused of shouting anti nationalist slogans, “Hum Kya Mange Azadi”, “Kashmir Mange Azadi”. Delhi Police had initially named five faculty members for leading the protest march in which the slogans were raised. They were Dr Devraj Mookherjee, Mukul Manglik, Vinita Chandra, NA Jacob, and Benu Lal. Speaking to DU Beat Dr Mookherjee said he wasn’t even part of the protest. “The police put it wrong, I was not there and everyone knows that. The entire college knows that. I did not happen to be a part of that march. So, I am not a witness to the particular slogan hearing incident”, he said denying the charges.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity a student of the college who doesn’t have any political affiliations said that the protestors were chanting “Meethi Meethi Azadi”, “ Pyaari Pyaari Azadi” which got misinterpreted to anti nationalist slogans and was misused in the doctored video. “The accusations are entirely baseless,” said the student.
After the video was found to be doctored, Police Officials said that they would send other videos for forensic examination as well. Speaking to the Hindu, deputy commissioner of Police, Madhur Verma, said that the clip was an amalgamation of the Ramjas Protest, speeches by JNU student Umar Khalid and other incidents and the Police department has asked media sources for a raw and authentic footage of the protests.
The north campus of the University of Delhi was tense on February 22 with violence breaking out inside the Ramjas College campus, outside the college, and later in the evening in front of the Maurice Nagar police station. After the violent intervention by the ABVP of an academic conference in Ramjas College on February 21, a common students and teachers protest was set to take place the next day, on February 22, against the intervention. ABVP’s reason for obstructing the conference was the presence of Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid, JNU students, who were amongst the speakers at the conference. Umar Khalid was arrested on sedition charges in 2016, however no charge sheet has been filed in the case yet.
February 22, 2017:
The common students teachers march was scheduled to start at 1 p.m. but was blocked by he ABVP. Before the march, as an extra security measure, guards at Ramjas College checked ID cards to ensure that only students of the college were allowed to enter. What was supposed to be a peaceful march around the campus was cut off by the ABVP as they began shouting slogans like “Bharat Maata ki jai” and ” Vande Mataram” in the sutta lane within the Ramjas College campus. In response, the student and teacher protestors sat down and began their own chants of “Hum honge kaamyaab ek din” on a lawn adjacent to the ABVP gathering. Within a few minutes of this standoff, members of ABVP were seen entering into the lawn space where the students were gathered. There are eyewitness accounts and videos floating on social media of the ABVP activists beating, shoving, and grabbing the students gathered. The police intervened immediately and the students shifted towards the canteen premises.
The protest march being blocked by ABVP activists and supporters
A large gathering of students sat down in front of the canteen and under the conference hall. Reports came in of a large number of protesters consisting of students, teachers and activists gathered outside the college gates. Students and teachers who were inside the college sat down in silent protest. The police tried to form a barrier between the two groups. The ABVP activists repeatedly tried to break the barrier and attack the students. Fearing escalating violence, the police escorted the students out through the back gate where they were transported to the metro station in Civil Lines.
Meanwhile, outside the college, students and teachers who had congregated for the protest march, and journalists covering the issue, encountered ABVP activists. There are videos and evidence of students and faculty members being injured during this encounter. Around this time, roads leading to the Maurice Nagar police station were blocked by the police and shopkeepers around Patel Chest area were asked to bring down their shutters. The protest reached the Maurice Nagar police station area after 3 p.m., where police had been deployed to keep the violence from escalating and forming a barrier between the two sides. The protesters placed themselves outside the police station, demanding that an FIR be lodged against the violence committed by the ABVP. Slogans like “Aar ho ya paar ho, aaj FIR ho” were heard from the protesters’ sides.
Protestors in front of Maurice Nagar police station on February 22
At around 6.30 p.m., just after protesters were speaking to the police about their demands, a commotion broke out as the police surrounding the protesters started absconding them, in some cases with unnecessary force. The protesters were rounded up in police buses and taken to different corners of the city in an attempt to break up the protest on campus. They were dropped off later in the evening. There were reports and rumours of a potential ‘witch-hunt’ by ABVP members around the campus in search of people at the protests. No such incidents were confirmed.
February 23, 2017:
Another peaceful protest was organised today by the students and teachers at the Delhi Police Headquarters in ITO with heavy police presence around the area. Hundreds of students attended the protest, where sloganeering was heard and protest signs could be seen condemning the police brutality against student protesters yesterday. An exit gate at the ITO metro station was closed around noon. The protesters pushed for an FIR to be lodged and for a meeting with the police officials. After meeting with the students, who wanted separate FIRs to be lodged against the ABVP members who engaged in violence, the police informed them that separate FIRs cannot be lodged and they would need to be clubbed under one FIR. The student protesters then took the decision to have affected students write down testimonies of violence committed against them, with which they’ll approach other authorities given the contention between their demands and the police’s stance.
The police has admitted to the use of excessive force against students on February 22nd. The case related to the entire incident has been transferred to the Crime Branch. They also invited students to submit their complaints to the police which can then be clubbed together.
The student protesters are reportedly upset about the incident being branded an ABVP-AISA clash and the protesters being clubbed together as AISA members. They have called these protests movements by the students and teachers of Delhi University, and not a political party. The protesters comprised of students from across Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and other institutions across Delhi, with supporters of various movements and parties, and many with no political affiliations.
There were other protests in North Campus as well, with NSUI carrying out their peace march from the Arts Faculty to the Maurice Nagar police station, and the ABVP continuing their stance of protesting against ‘anti-national’ activities and elements. There were reports of considerable police presence around the campus.
