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Author Arundhati Roy is facing a criminal complaint for a comment made by her in her speech on National People’s Registry (NPR) and National Registry of Citizens (NRC) during a protest.

Author Arundhati Roy is facing criminal charges after she had a police complaint filed against her as reported on 27^th December 2019. The award-winning author was booked for a comment she made during her “controversial” speech at the University of Delhi (DU) regarding the NPR-NRC. The complaint was lodged in Delhi’s Tilak Marg police station by advocate Rajiv Kumar Ranjan, who has demanded that an FIR be registered against her.

The FIR against the author has been requested under Sections 295A- deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs; 504-intentionally insulting, and thereby gives provocation to any person, intending or knowing it to be likely that such provocation will cause him to break the public peace, or to commit any other offence; 153- wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot, and 120B- party to criminal conspiracy-of the Indian Penal Code.

The author had urged netizens ‘lie’ during census over NPR, or give ‘fake names and addresses.” The author had told the crowd that the NPR- National Population Register- would serve as a database for the NRC. But what’s even more shocking was that Roy had said that the Modi government shouldn’t be given the remaining four years,” the complaint said, as reported by News18.

In a controversial comment, Roy said, “But we have to fight them for the next 4 years. Firstly, we should not give them four years, but we must have a plan. When they come to your house asking for your name, you give them some other name — like Ranga Billa, Kung-Fu Kutta, give your address as Seven Race Course road and let’s fix one phone number. But we need multiple subversions. We were not born to face lathis and bullets.”

Uma Bharti, a Bhartiya Janata Party leader, commented, “I ashamed to take the name of such a woman that idolises people like Ranga-Billa. Her views are not only anti-women, anti-humanity, but also shows a very disgusting mentality.”

Roy later clarified on 27^th December that was she intended was to “propose civil disobedience with a smile,” and also blamed media houses for misinterpreting her speech. This controversy comes after the ongoing protests against the government’s CAA, NRC, NPR bills.

Feature Image Credits: PTI file

Shreya Juyal

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Delhi NSUI President Files Complaint After Receiving Threatening Phone Calls

By DU Beat August 24, 2019

Since the night of the attack on the Savarkar statue, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) Delhi President, Akshay Lakra, alleges that he has been receiving disturbing phone calls, threatening to attack him if he doesn’t end the protest.

In the aftermath of the Vinayak Damodar Savarkar statue controversy, the drama continues to unfold at the University of Delhi (DU) as the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections inch closer. The illegal installation of the bust saw an immediate reaction from the NSUI, who threatened a mass protest if the bust was not removed within 24 hours. Lakra has now filed an official police complaint addressed to the Deputy Commissioner of Police to look into the threats that he has allegedly been receiving via phone calls.

This comes after NSUI members led by Lakra attempted to blacken the bust and ornament it with a garland of slippers. In his complaint, he claims that for the past few days he has repeatedly been receiving calls wherein he was subjected to life-threatening statements. The callers have been pressuring him to end his protest against the statue and photos from his Facebook account have been shared widely describing him as a hater of Savarkar. Due to fear for his family and friends, who can be easily identified through his social media accounts, Lakra has deactivated them. He says that he has been getting innumerable calls every second of the day from different states of the country, primarily from Maharashtra. While verifying, he realised that most of the numbers were registered on true caller by the names “Akhand Bharat”, “Hindu Ekta”,” Swaraj Manch”, “BJP supporter” and “Hindu Mahasabha” and even “Narendra Modi” himself.

He also mentioned that the callers have expressed their affiliation and solidarity to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The letter requests the police to take immediate actions against the perpetrators and Lakra has also given all the numbers via which he has been receiving troubling phone calls.

Lakra in the complaint states, “It has been a traumatising experience for me. The ABVP members mentioned should be held responsible for any harm and mishap caused to me.” To support his case, he has provided photographic evidence of several continuous missed calls on his cellphone. While all the other numbers are of Indian users, a number from South Korea and Bahrain has also been giving him calls which he suspects is originating from the accused group.

“People might say that what I did was a political stunt but it is clearly not because I am not running. I just want to start a conversation and have a debate. There is an attempt to impose one particular ideology in the country and to rewrite history. The ABVP has encroached on the property to forcefully install the statue but they have no proof to prove that Savarkar is Veer and no basis to equate him with Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose or Shri Bhagat Singh. I am not afraid of the wrath of the RSS”, he added.
Speaking to DU Beat, Saimon Farooqui, National Secretary, NSUI, said, “RSS & ABVP have always made dishonesty and bigotry as their instruments to cheat the nation and the universities. Earlier they tried to deceive the students by spending INR 22 lakh of the DUSU budget on “tea”. Last year, they deceived the students of the university by approving the candidature for the post of President of DUSU of a person who had fake documents and carried a fake degree. Today they are trying to brainwash the students of the university by trying to prove a bootlicker of the English Government as a freedom fighter and putting him on the same pedestal as Shaheed Bhagat Singh and Subhash Chandra Bose. I’m proud of our Delhi State President Akshay Lakra for this step and the entire NSUI family backs him for this move. If needed, each one of us would come to streets to blacken and remove the statues of thousands of Savarkars like this.”

Additionally, the negative attention that Akshay is receiving has gone well and beyond DU. Popular accounts on Facebook run by elderly men are openly abusing him and threatening him. Shiv Sena leader, Uddhav Thackeray, has also joined the wagon commenting that anyone who insults Savarkar should be beaten openly!

The National Media Convener for the ABVP, Monika Chaudhary, surprisingly, denies any involvement of the ABVP in this matter, and dissociates herself and her party from the scenario. She retorted that the complaint was “completely false” and that the ABVP does not engage with this level of politics. She also stated that none of the numbers mentioned on the complaint could be connected to any ABVP office-bearers. “It is not the actions of an official member of the ABVP. It could have been an ABVP sympathiser or a person who is a big fan of Veer Savarkar,” she said. She also went on to say that this complaint is merely a means to achieve “fame and popularity” for Lakra in light of the upcoming elections.

We are yet to see what steps the Delhi Police will take against the complaint filed. It is also important to note that if true, the scale of backlash being directed at Akshay Lakra is unprecedented and constitutes harassment. It speaks volumes about how students exercising their freedom of speech and action within university spaces are not immune to attacks from the vicious web of internet trollers who rely only on keywords to immediate make insensitive comments.

Image Credits: Akshay Larka for NSUI

Pragati Thapa

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Campus Central

Sexual Harassment at SSCBS’s Students’ Farewell Party

By DU Beat May 25, 2019

Under heavy alcohol influence, a third-year student, Moksh Nair, was accused of harassing seven third-year girls at a farewell party. Their college took a swift decision, ensuring that action was taken.

On the night of 16^th April, around 70 students of Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies (SSCBS) gathered to celebrate the end of their college life. This unofficial graduation party took place near Gurgaon and involved alcohol. This celebration turned sour when Moksh Nair, a third-year student from the college, under heavy alcohol influence, harassed around seven third-year girls at the party, according to the sources.

The Instagram stories of one of the victims brought to light the occurrences of the night. A statement issued by the Students’ Council, SSCBS, revealed the same in an unofficial meeting. The Council briefed the teachers and administration regarding the matter and how it was to be dealt with. From thereon, Poonam Verma, the Principal, herself headed the committee which handled the matter.

Contacted by DU Beat, the Principal said, “It’s a sad affair. We have been discouraging the students to go out and have such parties. Though as an institution we are not truly responsible as students do turn out and say that ‘they are all adults’, and also (because) these incidents take place outside the college premises.” She added that despite all this, they will always be protective of their students just as parents are in a family; however old the children might get. “In any case, these issues need to be handled at the family level as well.”

Image Credits: Students’ Council, SSCBS

The girls involved decided to drop any legal charges and consented the committee, including the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), to decide the fate of Nair. It was allegedly decided that the accused would not graduate along with his batch and would have to repeat the year; however, the same has not been confirmed by the admin. Further, his placement was also evoked reportedly. Although the steps taken remain subject to confirmation, it reflects how the college authorities were willing to take apt decisions and handled such a matter with sensitivity.

In a study it was revealed that one in every four women have faced harassment in Delhi University, it further went on to reveal how not even half of the students are aware of the ICC. A senior officer from Maurice Nagar police station, on speaking to a national daily said, “We receive a lot of written complaints. However, due to pressure from the college administration, the students end up taking back their complaints most of the time.”

DU Beat tried contacting Moksh for a comment, but he was unavailable for the same.

Measures should be taken to prevent such acts from happening. Colleges should make students aware of the repercussions of such behaviour. They should also spread awareness about the bodies and authorities responsible for such cases, along with an approachable environment to encourage students to step forward. Bystanders or fellow students aware of such happenings should not view this as a ‘personal matter’ and speak up for the person suffering. Such issues should not be viewed as a matter of reputation but an individual matter to be handled with utmost sensitivity and care.

Feature Image Credits: Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies

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