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Where are you ICC: Looking at DU’s History of Sexual Harrasment

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Where are you ICC: Looking at DU's History of Sexual Harrasment

TW: Sexual Harassment

A sexual harassment incident is something which can leave an individual scarred for their entire lives. The least that could be done is to identify the accused and bring justice. The ICC of DU works in the same regard. However, it is found to be missing whenever such horrific incidents see the broad daylight. Why is ICC dormant when they are needed the most? Read ahead to find out more.

Basking in the morning sun while discovering the Delhi Metro and the joy of stepping into the college corridors brings a feeling of accomplishment. A transition from school to college brings with it a million of sacred dreams that can’t wait to be unraveled and rejoice the world stage. Somewhere it becomes the duty of the institution to protect those dreams and let the innocence cherish the moment in hand. However, a question of safety and security is a product of oblivion of these dreams.

Living in a city like Delhi, people do fear about their safety and security, especially women. Yet, they sleep at nights dreaming about the endless things they can do and achieve. Their dreams are not hindered by the question of safety but as soon as the Sun comes out, it becomes too obvious to think about it before stepping ahead. Hence, university remains the only place to live those dreams carefree. However, what if even the university becomes the place putting a question mark on one’s safety and security. What if University becomes the place which we term as “unsafe”?

In the recent months, it has become too obvious that the university is not providing a safe space in this regard. From the incident of Ramjas Debating Society to the scars of the festival of Holi, University of Delhi (DU) has put its DUites under the question of safety and security? It is true that as a woman we have to think about an endless list of things before stepping out of our residence. However, college is surely not the place where a student has to worry about these things but here we are, wrapped up in our thoughts of if going to a certain place will be safe for us?

A question of safety will always be present at the back of our minds but if a mechanism comes into place which redresses our concerns in regards to harassment then a sense of security can blanket the students and teachers of the varsity. One such committee is the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) which addresses the grievances of students and teachers in regards to any form of sexual harassment. Now, the mechanism seems pleasing since the committee is present in most of the colleges and societies apart from a centralized committee of the varsity. The question arises when we take a look at its functioning.

When a Ramjas Debating society’s member was stripped off his credentials for alleged harassment or a student of DU had to face sexual harassment, where was the ICC at those times? Isn’t it the duty of ICC to keep the varsity a place free of harassment? Aren’t they responsible to spread awareness regarding the same? Where was it when such heinous crimes were unraveling themselves? There is an endless list of questions that need to be asked and answered for the scope of improvement of the safety and security of the campus.

In conversation with DU Beat, a member of ICC explained the functioning of the committee in DU. The member explained that the ICC expects the complainant to come forward or directly come to the office and give the committee a written complaint. Once the complaint reaches, it is taken up in a meeting. If the entire committee agrees on the authenticity of the complaint and if it falls under the jurisdiction of ICC then the complaint is taken forward. As this is the final step where the complainant can withdraw their complaint, ICC asks them if they want to pursue it or not. Once the ICC get their consensus, they are asked for 6 copies (as recommended by law) of the complaint. Then, as ICC is law bounded, they send the whole complaint to the respondent, without censoring anything, and give them a 10 days period to submit their clarification or response to the complaint. After this, both the parties are called in a manner where they don’t see each other and individual hearings take place. Then, ICC gives them a chance to call the witnesses which is followed by witness testimonies. At the end, the committee comes up with their findings and send them to both the parties involved. If nothing else comes up that could change the nature of the proceedings then the committee arrives at recommendations, and according to those, further actions are taken.

Since there are a lot of complaints at a given point of time and law has given us 90 days to resolve an issue, it generally takes 4-5 months to resolve a complaint.

-Member of ICC, DU

Upon asking about the reason behind the recent jump in harassment cases in the academic space, the member stated that it could be attributed to the pandemic where people did not understand the consequences of the things they do behind their laptops and mobiles. Further, the member claimed that the varsity has a persistent issue of gender sensitization. For the part of ICC, as the member claimed, it is taking more and more steps to make people sensitized about the gender, to make students aware about what is right and what is wrong.

The harassment cases haven’t increased exponentially but they have increased, particularly in the cyber space.

-Member of ICC, DU

Further the member added that there are certain guidelines issued by the ICC in regards to the recent trend of cases that are coming to the committee but it is difficult to enforce them at the grassroot level. Additionally, the member informed that the apex ICC has no jurisdiction over individual ICC of various colleges and hence cannot intervene in their matters. However, if the grievances of a student have not been resolved at the college level, they can directly write to the ICC of DU and then further steps can be taken in the case.

On asking about what if a particular ICC is not functioning properly, the member said, ”I can’t comment on it but you can ask the Proctor of the University. There are other mechanisms to address the issues related to the functioning of ICC of a college.”

When the question about how the ICC intends to improve its functioning was popped before the member, they responded by stating their wish to include more members. However, as they stated, the law has bounded ICC to include only 10 members.

As the member said that the ICC’s duty is to deal with the sexual harassment cases and the problem of gender sensitization only then, who is there to keep a check if the guidelines are followed or if a subordinate ICC is functioning properly? Just as the High Courts have a superintendence over all the subordinate courts, who is there to supervise the subordinate ICCs? What happens if a sexual harassment case is shut down for all the wrong reasons? Who is there to keep a check on the functioning of the redressal mechanism?

Read Also: The Story of the ICC

Featured Image Credits: newslaundry

Ankita Baidya

[email protected]

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Letter to DU VC urging amendment of the new curriculum

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Two members of the Executive Council of Delhi University have sent a letter to the Vice-Chancellor urging him to make amendments to the recently-approved UGCF-2022. Read to find out more.

Recently, members of the Executive Council Of Delhi University have written to the Vice-Chancellor, Yogesh Singh, urging him to make amendments to the recently approved Undergraduate Curriculum Framework-2022 (UGCF-2022) which is planned to be implemented from the academic year 2022-23.

The framework, which was formulated by the National Education Policy (NEP) cell, has come to face opposition by a section of teachers. Claiming that this may lead to a dilution of the “academic rigour”, two Executive Council members, Seema Das and Rajpal Singh Pawar, have pointed out the shortcomings of the framework in their letter.

…. Based on New Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the Undergraduate Curriculum Framework (UGCF) 2022 has been haphazardly made by an extra-statutory body, i.e. NEP Cell, leading to the dilution of academic rigour,” the letter read (Source- PTI).

The reduction of the overall required credit from 196 to 176 in four years and 148 to 132 in three years would end up significantly reducing the workload. Thus, the new curriculum would lead to a massive displacement of the teaching staff, especially of the ad hoc teachers, as highlighted by the letter.

As per authentic information, the student-teacher ratio is being doubled in comparison to the present student-teacher ratio across subject/ discipline by the UGC and hence, the University of Delhi… This will drastically reduce workload,” the letter read further (Source- PTI).

The removal of English, as a compulsory language course under BA and BCom and as an option under Ability Enhancement Courses, will also significantly affect the workload of the English department in colleges.

Furthermore, the total weightage of the CBCS/ LOCF core papers has also been reduced from 70-75% to 45-50% under the new framework, reducing workload even further.

Additionally, under DU’s recent directive, no ad hoc or guest teacher can be appointed until every already-employed teacher is taking 16 periods per week. It is believed that this will lead to a situation where the importance of quality research is grossly underestimated and which will ignore the “importance of research done by the faculty members.”

NEP’s Multi Entry-Exit system (MEES) and Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) are also believed to institutionalise “a fluctuating workload and roster” which will hamper “the implementation of the constitutionally obligatory provisions of reservation for SC/ST/OBC/EWS in teaching jobs.”

We request you [the VC] to consider and take into account the above-mentioned facts in the course of implementation of the UGCF and bring the required amendments without any further delay,”  thus, the members have urged in their letter.

 

Feature Image: University of Delhi official

 

Manasvi Kadian

[email protected] 

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Arts & Culture

Of Loneliness and Heartbreak

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This June, remember to hold onto your anger and pain as you set out to celebrate your pride. Pride was, never a celebration alone to begin with. It was and will always, remain a fierce riot.

When I joined DU Beat, I was a lost correspondent with too many opinions on Netflix and zero knowledge about graphics ideation. But one thing I knew for sure was that I wished to write stories rooted in my immediate cultural experiences. Stories about people. Stories about students. Stories about queerness.

I never viewed queerness as something that was associated with a sexual identity but rather as something that served as a deviation from a set norm. Queering of narratives, discourses, readings and even something like non-linear documentation of time always interested me. As a marginal figure in my most immediate circles while growing up, I felt the need to understand and by extension empathise with anything that occupied a position of marginality around us.

Ever since I stepped foot into DU, I realised that there are hardly any places more queer than those afforded by educational spaces – where marginal social identities offset hundreds of students from the larger crowd of normal adherence. And such varsity spaces become intersectional convergence points for glorious bonhomie – and sometimes sites of extreme cruelty. Taking pride in visiblising intersectional identities in university spaces like ours are more often than not the share of a privileged few – their economic and social position allowing them affordances most are denied. The same identity that becomes the pride of a select few – comes at a cost for others. For most people of such social minority identities, making common knowledge of your lower caste identity comes at the cost of having your narrative being baited by upper caste saviours, your gender identity becomes a double edged sword in your path of progress and your sexuality a constant site of speculation and amusement for those around you.

But amidst the pride colours, pride watchlists and other glittery extravaganza is the overlooked loneliness of growing up queer. To survive a childhood of conflict with your truest point of self-identification, knowing that perhaps the biggest truth about you will always be held as a questioned truth by those around you and eventually coming to a city this big and finding yourself lost amidst a sea of unknown faces – each presenting to you hierarchies of power previously unknown to you. You are immediately swept into a whirlwind of heterosexual college romances, and your heart yearns for that singular same-sex romance that you only see in your annual token queer Netflix romantic comedy and before you know it you have set sail on the flood-prone waves of the hookup culture. Eventually your life is a string of making your way from one bed to another, from looking for ‘spots’ and asking for ‘places’.

But every year in June, corporations and allies around you urge you to forget this language of heartbreak and make you drown in their definition of a glitzy celebration of queerness. To all those queer souls lost this Pride month – to you I say, remember Pride began as a protest, a riot to be precise. Take the anger in your heart and hold onto it – for being queer comes at great pain of surviving a staunchly heterosexual society. To all the allies planning your next pride march, make sure to administer a consensual hug to the next queer you meet this month – queerness is a struggle with loneliness and for all your good intent some loneliness of the self that will take this community an entire life to overcome.

Anwesh Banerjee

[email protected]

 

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Campus Central

Caste in DU: An Exploration

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Caste in DU: An Exploration

DU has written to the colleges about the existence of Caste based discrimination on campus and has directed to take actions if necessary. However, the question is whether the directions are on paper or are they going to turn up in reality? Read ahead to find out more.

Recently, the University of Delhi (DU) has written to its colleges in regards to the Caste based discrimination. It has asked the colleges to ensure that there is no caste-based discrimination on the campus. Further, it has directed the officials and the faculty members of the university to abstain from any such act that would arise due to the social background of a student.

On 25 May 2022, the assistant registrar of the varsity wrote to the colleges while attaching several letters from the University Grants Commission (UGC) on the subject of prevention of discrimination. Further it asked the colleges to take necessary actions if any such case arises. Meanwhile, the UGC has assured to take four actions on the matter including contitution of a committee which would be responsible to look into the complaints of caste-based discrimination, received from the students, teaching and non-teaching stafee of the varsity, belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST).

The university/institute/college may develop a page on their website for lodging such complaints of caste discrimination by Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) students and also place a complaint register in the registrar/principal office for the purpose.

-DU on prevention of caste-based discrimination

Furthermore, it suggested the colleges take necessary actions as soon as any such incident comes to the notice of the authorities.

DU has often been the place where casteism perpetrates. While hostility between the students belonging to different castes can be observed, the antagonism among the teachers has also become an unhidden observation. In August 2020, an assistant professor had to lose her job on discriminatory grounds for being a Dalit. The professor filed a police complaint. According to her, she met the principal to find out the reason for her termination but was humiliated, threatened, and passed caste-based remarks. Again in September 2020, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes had issued notices to the DU Vice-Chancellor in regards to the alleged caste-based discrimination against the teachers in Daulat Ram College and Dyal Singh College (evening). Moving forward to August 2021, a teacher slapped her colleague in Laxmibai College. The victim, Neelam, had alleged that the attacker, Ranjit Kaur, had slapped her because the former belonged to the Schedule Caste (SC).

If these cases seem less to provide an argument on the caste-based insensitivity that the University houses, how about we take a look at DU’s syllabus? The varsity was subjected to heavy criticism when it removed renowned author Mahasweta Devi’s short story and two Dalit authors- Bama and Sukhartharini, and replaced them with “upper caste” writer Ramabai from the English syllabus. So, the question here is not whether the university is sensitive towards the issue but about taking a bold charge against the perpetrators of caste-based discrimination.

In conversation with a student from Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) told us that even a “prestigious” college like LSR is not an exception with it comes to caste discrimination. According to the student, the university is far from being caste sensitive. She felt disgusted by the notion that the people condemning the acts of discrimination are also the ones who practice them. She calls it an ‘irony’ when the varsity is writing on the issue and continues to be the place perpetuting it.

I have heard from my friends and acquaintances about how their caste segregated them from the others and how it was used as a brand to their names.

-Student, LSR

Another student from LSR, Prachi, who is affiliated to the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), told us that caste based discrimination does exist in the college space, maybe outright or subtle but it does exist. She claimed that previously she was asked if she was admitted to the college through reservation and lines like “in logo ka toh asani se ho jata hai” were spoken. Further, she finds the varsity space caste insensitive. Even though people talk about the sensitivity in top colleges of DU, it is only a ‘talk’ as she stated. Moreover, she asserted that the University is not doing its work in the aspect. She pointed out that the varsity shows its casteist attitude when it does not recruit even a single teacher from marginalised section and simply writes them off that they are not found suitable.

Sensitization of faculty and students should be done through workshops and strict actions should be taken against any case of caste-based discrimination.

–Prachi, SFI, LSR

Asha Avinash Yagy from Ramjas told us that from the outside it could not be felt that such a discrimination exist in the institution. However, it could be felt, according to the him, that people belonging from upper caste, at times, find ways to supress the ones belonging from lower caste. Further, he felt that the university is somewhat caste sensitive but a lot of work needs to be done in the domain to make people live in the harmony of the fact that people from various caste can co-exist. To conclude with what the student felt, he told us that it is of utmost importance that the people have to get over the negativity that exist between them in the name of caste.

As the University is completing 100 years, it needs to become completely caste sensitive.

-Student, Ramjas College

In conversation with Himasweeta Sarma, the president of North East Cell, Hindu College and the Editor-in-chief of DU Beat, told us about the subtle instances of discrimination. Last year, she received a grievance of a North eastern student who was questioned on their food habits and whether they include only ‘momos’. She highlighted although there are no caste-based discrimination taking place within her college, subtle instances like these do take place which leaves a deep impact on the victim. She herself has been subjected to questions like why does she not look ‘North-Easterner’ enough. Further, she finds the university to be insensitive in this matter.

The University does not have time to pay attention to the cries of the student community as a whole. Do you think it’ll have time to listen to the grievances of the minority communities.

-Himasweeta Sarma, President, North East Cell, Hindu College 

Additionally, she feels that introducing committees and announcing orders is not enough. According to her, the university should try to know the experiences of the students who have been the victims of such discrimination, try to understand where the problem lies and take ations against the same. Such actions should be taken that makes the second person think twice before indulging in the same.

To add to this, in conversation with the secretary of SFI Hindu, Ankit, told us about the instances where a student belonging from upper caste try to imply their superiority and try to assert dominance among the students. In his words, if the university would have been sensitive towards caste then they would have taken any action against those who carried out the recent act of violence in Ramjas College.

On 31 May 2022, three students of Ramjas, who are also SFI activists, were attacked within their college. As reported, the students had altered a caste-based slogan which was painted by the supporters of ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad). The physical altercation took place over these caste-based slogans. The perpetrators of the attack on the students, Aman, Akhil and Sachin, are reportedly not the students of Ramjas College. Even though an FIR had not been filed, the perpetrators had publicly admitted to their wrongdoing and issued an apology. SFI had accepted the apology. However, they demanded an assurance from the administration and Police about the safety of the students. 

Further, Ankit feels that the university is completely ignorant towards the problems of students who come from oppressed castes. According to him, most students who dropout belong to the oppressed sections and the university has done nothing substantial in the same aspect. Ankit further stated that the university should assist the students from the oppressed sections so that they do not have to quit studies and can find the university space conducive for studies.

As there is a gender sensitisation committee in colleges, caste senitisation committees must also be set up. SC ST cells in colles must be made compulsory.

-Ankit, Secretary, SFI Hindu 

Collectively, students feel that the discrimination is rooted deep within the minds of the individuals and it is a subject which would require a collective cooperation of all individuals in order to eradicate it. Since the university has finally acknowledged its existence, let us wait to see how will this acknowledgement change the varsity’s environment.

Read Also: Casteism, Class, Convention: Are We Still Free?

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Caste System

Featured Image Credits: Uday Deb via Times of India

Ankita Baidya

[email protected]

 

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DUB Speak

All You Who Sleep Tonight

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And the mid-sem break is finally upon us! For two years studying in the most prestigious public university of the country (terms and conditions applied) have entailed me telling my debatably more fortunate friends in private universities that my six month long semester now squeezed into four pathetically short months, flies by without a singular mid-semester break. Back in the days of Google Meet University, it did not really matter, since 8:30 classes were about switching on your laptop and falling asleep again (God bless all the people who figured out how to record lectures) as opposed to making your way through cow-dung in Old Gupta Colony and haggling with rickshaw-drivers over twenty bucks. 

At the stag end of my degree, the promise and fruition of a well earned semester break is nothing short of enticing. But even as I groan over all the pictures of my hometown decked in glorious lights, all set to don the garb of an open art gallery for ten days, I realise there are among my peers who will not go home during this break and juniors who will not be able to go home. Attendance sucks really. Having exhausted medical claims for lazy Wednesdays and hungover Fridays, people find themselves now faced with the risk of staking five full marks at the cost of returning home for festivities. 

But it is moments such as these that make me wonder truly what it means to be an outstation kid in this lonely little city during festival week? We all come away from our homes with suitcases packed with dreams which can never be appropriately weighted by airport authorities. We come with hopes that are beyond the beeps of securities at transit. We look for houses, negotiate rents, put up with scheming landlords and adjust our intestines to the atrocious fare that is served in the name of daily food. In the end, we find our own corners, deck them up with fairy lights, save up for Alexa and make it our goal to purchase fresh flowers at least once a week. You know a city is unkind when the price of chrysanthemums makes you rummage your pockets to check if you have enough for dinner later, and you settle for the familiarity of white peeling tuberoses. 

But soon we realise that for houses to become homes, they must pass the litmus test of establishing unconscious hierarchies with which come inevitable power dynamics. Dynamics that bring with them the quiet company of many heartbreaks and disappointments. Eventually you are left straddling the remnants of a home back where you came from – a home that grows seemingly distant with every passing day – and the burden of making peace with the home you promised to build yourself here. Oftenstance, situations arise when the need to anchor oneself leaves one feeling even more vulnerable, and we assume the hybrid identity of outliers – neither here nor there. Neither able to go back in full throttle nor able to make peace with the newness of where we are now. Festivals don’t help either. 

In a search of making sense of an existence this deeply in a moment of flux, we often find ourselves longing to go back to the warm glaze of a city waking up to colours and words of joy on a festival of homecoming. We find ourselves craving the sweets that Maa would make in the kitchen – samples to be nibbled at, the actual specimen only made available when the guests arrived. At that moment the journey of coming to the big city becomes an exercise in meaning-making and fighting urges to not succumb to the comfort of familiarity in the most unfamiliar of circumstances. 

To all the people who will not be returning home for your festivals this mid-sem break, because of you have heartbreaks to tell your pillow about, playlists of crushes to hear on loop, professional disappointments to cope with and peace to be made with waning family ties, I loan a few words of Vikram Seth. he writes, “All you who sleep tonight, far from the ones you love…. The whole world shares your tears, Some for two nights or one, And some for all their years.”

Anwesh Banerjee
[email protected]

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DUB News

DU Prof. Ratan Lal Granted Bail by Delhi Court

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The Tis Hazari court granted bail to DU Associate Professor, Ratan Lal, who had been arrested on Friday by Delhi Police responding to an FIR lodged against him in regards to the ‘shivling’ comment controversy. Read to find out more.

Delhi University Associate Professor, Ratan Lal, who was arrested on Friday night, 20th May 2022, after an FIR was lodged against him for making alleged objectionable remarks through a Facebook post, has been granted bail, on a bond of Rs. 50,000 and a surety of likes, by the Tis Hazari court.

The complaint, which was lodged by a Delhi-based lawyer, Vineet Jindal, alleged that Lal had recently shared a “derogatory, inciting and provocative tweet on the Shivling”.

The DU professor had been arrested by the Cyber Police Station, North under IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295A (deliberate act to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion). The Delhi police had been seeking a 14-day judicial remand of Professor Ratan Lal in order to facilitate a proper investigation in the case, considering that they had received six complaints against him so far.

 

Appearing on behalf of the police, Additional Public Prosecutor, Atul Shrivastava, told the court that, “prima facie some comments have been passed that have the potential to disturb public tranquility”.

Accordingly the FIR was registered… the most important aspect, not expected from such an educated person, was after making such type of remarks, he has not stopped there, he has been defending himself through different videos uploaded on YouTube,” Shrivastava argued.

 

On the other hand, Professor Ratan Lal’s lawyers (Advocates Amit Srivastava, Aditya Kumar Chaudhary, Dr Satya Prakash, Sanjay K Chhadha, ND Pancholi, Rahul, Mukesh, Deepak Jakhar and Karish Kumar Mehra) had moved his bail application before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Siddhartha Malik, arguing that his arrest was in violation of the Supreme Court guidelines as mentioned in the Arnesh Kumar judgement.

What circumstances happened that you had to make an arrest? He was not a criminal or a habitual offender. He is a professor in a reputed college… You had proper time, you could have served notice, waited for a reply, and if there was an unsatisfactory reply then you could have arrested. This is contempt of Arnesh Kumar judgment and the officers involved in this arrest should face departmental enquiry,” Lal’s lawyer submitted.

 

On Saturday, 21st May, 2022, students as well as student organisations had held a protest outside Arts Faculty, DU against the arrest of Professor Ratan Lal. This included organisations cuh as AISA, Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS), and DSU taking a stand in support of the professor. The students participating in the protest held placards saying “Stop attack on our teachers”, “Stop curbing democratic voices”, and “Release professor Ratan Lal”.

The FIR has been lodged against Prof. Lal under the section of blasphemy, an act which has no place in a country such as India which is not a theocratic state. Our constitution recognizes itself as a secular country, promoting all contending schools of thought, including those that are against institutional religions. Therefore, blasphemy must be decriminalized. It is only a tool in the hands of religious fundamentalists to quell voices who stand firmly against religious mongering,” said Noel Benny, SFI Delhi State committee member, while addressing the student gathering.

 

SFI Delhi also issued a statement in solidarity with the professor, condemning his arrest and the arbitrary action of the state.

This punitive action against Prof. Lal is characteristic of a Brahminical state. Brahminism since its inception as a hegemonic ideology has always violently suppressed its opposers… The current instance of using state machinery and constitutional provisions to penalize critics is only a manifestation of the oppressive ideology, which reaffirms that the state continues to follow the traditions of the Brahmanical order,” read the statement made by SFI Delhi.

 

Taking its decision, in addition to granting bail, the court directed the DU Professor to refrain from making any new social media posts or from engaging in different means of interaction such as interviews concerning the ‘shivling’ controversy.

In regards to this issue, Professor Ratan Lal had previously argued and made a statement that all he had done was impose a question to the general public as a student of history. 

People can be hurt by anything. Academic discourse cannot be sidelined on account of perceived hurt. I had asked a simple question to enquire if the so-called shivling was broken or cut. Mullahs and Pandits don’t need to comment on it. An art historian should answer this question,” said Professor Ratan Lal.

The court said that considering that the concerned remark by the professor had not been made with the intention of inciting any particular group or promoting tension/ enmity between people and had been made on a structure that was being claimed by different groups as different religious symbols, the court considered that “the post of the accused may be a failed attempt at satire regarding a controversial subject which has backfired, resulting in the present FIR.”

The presence of an absence of intention to create animosity/hatred by words is subjective nature as is the perception of the recipient who reads/hears a statement,” the court order stated.

The court also remarked that the feeling of hurt by one individual cannot be considered representative of an entire community or group of people. Thus, any such complaints should be considered in the larger context of the actual facts and circumstances.

 

This controversy also launched a lengthy discussion on the concept of tolerance as it exists in the Indian culture and the array of opinions that people might have on this subject.

It is observed that Indian civilisation is one of the oldest in the world and known to be tolerant and accepting to all religions. The presence or absence of intention to create animosity/ hatred by words is subjective in nature as is the perception of the recipient who reads/hears a statement,” the court remarked.

The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate also commented that with India being a country of more than 130 crore people, there can be 130 crore different views and perceptions on any given subject.

The undersigned, in personal life, is a proud follower of Hindu religion and would call the post to be distasteful and an unnecessary comment made on a controversial topic. For another person, the same post can appear to be shameful but may not incite the feeling of hatred towards another community. Similarly, different persons may consider the post differently without being enraged and may in fact feel sorry for the accused to have made an unwarranted comment without considering the repercussions,” said the court, talking about how different people might view the controversial post differently.

 

https://images.assettype.com/barandbench/2022-05/95080cc7-8d4c-4537-9525-eb04df387e6d/State_v__Ratan_Lal.pdfThe judge noted that the anxieties of the police could be understood and had not been completely ill-placed as they were only trying to accomplish their task of maintaining peace and order amongst the people. However, the court made its decision considering all the facts that were presented before them.

It is true that the accused did an act which was avoidable considering the sensibilities of persons around the accused and the public at large. However, the post, though reprehensible, does not indicate an attempt to promote hatred between communities,” they stated.

 

Additional Resources:

https://images.assettype.com/barandbench/2022-05/95080cc7-8d4c-4537-9525-eb04df387e6d/State_v__Ratan_Lal.pdf

Read Also: DU Professor Booked for his Remarks on “Gyanvapi”

Featured Image: @profdilipmandal on Instagram

 

Manasvi Kadian

[email protected]

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Features

Of How Dal met Chawal: Rustic, Comfort, and Nostalgia

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Of How Dal met Chawal: Rustic, Comfort, and Nostalgia

Have you ever felt so lost that even an episode from Friends turns out to be unfruitful? This is when you find your world in your comfort food. A plain and simple bowl of Dal and rice can sometimes trump the most delectable fares.

On a late winter night, while everyone is snuggled up in their blankets, you are awake to complete those due assignments. You could hear your flatmate’s snoring but there is nothing much you could do about it. That is when your stomach growls. You get up from your chair and head towards the kitchen to make some instant noodles. You pour in water in the saucepan and wait for it to boil. Suddenly you feel an urge to not eat those noodles. You start reminiscing about the time from your younger days. Those days when your mother used to cook your meals while you worked hard for your tests. At that time it felt insignificant only for you to realize its higher place in your life and that is how your everyday food became your comfort food. So, in the dead of the darkness, while you look at your noodles in the making, you are craving your comfort food. The thought about your comfort food makes you crave it even more. Surprisingly, you could smell it even when it was not in front of you. From ‘aaj bhi Dal chawal’ to ‘where is my Dal chawal’ we have all grown up.

Besides this, have you ever dwelled on your long vacation feelings? Some years ago while holidaying in Mumbai, I was hit by a strange feeling. I love to explore different cuisines and a trip to Mumbai is everything when it comes to food. Whilst enjoying the Vada Pao and Bhel Puri, I realized that I can not take another bite of it. At that moment all I wanted was some home-cooked rice, piping hot dal garnished with a dash of lemon, and fried potatoes. A girl, whose sole purpose of life is to eat and explore, was yearning for a home-cooked meal. What an odd thing to see. A few months back a similar feeling aroused when I visited Ooty. Indulging myself into the fine dining experience with chicken Chettinad and finishing it with Mysore Pak on my ‘I don’t remember’ day of the trip, I almost broke down into tears at the sight of that mouth-watering food. I felt extremely overwhelmed and the only thing my soul craved was for my comfort food. I loved the south Indian cuisine but at the moment it seemed as if my dal-rice was winning all the battles. Without a doubt, I could have ditched caviar for my home-cooked meal.

The feeling that you get when you crave your soul food but can only fancy it. That feeling when you close your eyes and imagine yourself sitting on your bed completely relaxed with your favorite novel. You start reading those yellow pages which have a deep story, a thrilling climax, and an unanticipated river of twists hidden in them. You reached the 94th page and that is when the door opens. You can see that perfect bowl of your favorite meal coming towards you. Your gaze is fixated on the bowl when it finally sits before you. You could already taste the zesty flavor that it has and smell the woody scent that your entire body yearned for. The scrumptious bowl of heaven awaits “your highness”. This is when the spell finally breaks and you realize the existence of this tangible realm where your bowl of goodness lives far away from you at the moment. You open your eyes to comprehend the heartbreak to be more hurtful than a breakup. Any affliction is tolerable but not the estrangement from your comfort food. The solace that a bowl of comfort can bring you is unparalleled.

Living far away from your humble abode can be challenging. From doing every mundane task to keeping yourself protected, every responsibility solely lies on your shoulder. However, what makes this sitch more arduous is that home-sick feeling. Especially when you fall sick and all you long for is some comfort through the meals you have. Yet, a disappointing discretion that you address is the distance from the place you once woke up every day. You as a breathing being do not get to choose what settles your mind but what does is that toothsome morsel. It is rightly marked that the way to one’s heart is through their stomach. You can go and explore any part of the world, meet any number of people and try out as many cultures as your heart desires but your affection for your comfort food is simply irreplaceable. I can not comment on who is going to be there for you but ‘for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part’ your dal-chawal is going to stick to you till the very end.

Read Also: Must Try Street Food Joints in DU

Featured Image Credits: Dawn Images

Ankita Baidya

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News

Vice-Chancellor of DU lays down foundation stone of new academic block: Kamala Nehru College

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The Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University laid down the foundation stone of a new academic block at Kamala Nehru College on Monday, 31st January 2022. Read more to find out about this new building.

The foundation stone of a new academic block was laid down at Kamala Nehru College by the Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh at a ceremony on Monday, 31st January 2022. This event was organised in two parts: the foundation stone laying ceremony, held at nature square in Kamala Nehru College, and the felicitation and address which took place in the auditorium hall of the college. The entire event was streamed live on the YouTube channel of the college to maximise the viewing capacity even with the COVID restrictions and guidelines in place.

 

This new academic block was proposed as part of the Other Backward Class (OBC) Infrastructure Expansion plan, implemented in the college in 2017. This plan can be interpreted as one building upon the past attempts to expand infrastructure after the implementation of the 27% reservation policy of 2009. 

 

According to the statements by the college, the new block is to be built upon an area of 1250 sq. metres with a basement, a ground floor, a mezzanine floor, and a first floor. The ground floor is set to have a lecture hall with a 180-people seating capacity and a green room, equipment room, storeroom, and washrooms, while the basement would have nine tutorial rooms, a staff room, and lockers. The mezzanine floor is to have a loft and storerooms, and the first floor will have a classroom, a terrace porch, and a bridge connecting the new block with the old one. All the classrooms in the block will be smart classrooms. The college also added that this new building is an environmentally friendly structure, reflecting the college’s commitment to environmental sustainability.

As a student, inculcating smart learning and technology into the physical classroom feels like a great step to me. The addition of this new building and these classrooms will make it easier for the college to accommodate the huge student body, in addition to making learning more interactive.”, says Hridya Madhav, a first-year student of Kamala Nehru College.

The addition of smart classrooms signifies a change in the educational perspective of Indian institutions as well as of individuals who are part of Indian academia. This step towards adopting a more hybrid form of learning, in addition to the proposal and implementation of a policy like NEP, signifies a rising trend of change in the Indian academic sector.

 

After the laying of the foundation stone, the addressal began with recalling the laying of the foundation stone of the original building of Kamala Nehru College by the then-president V.V. Giri on 21st November 1972. This was followed by a felicitation of the chief guest, Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh, as well as other senior officials who were present at the event including the Dean of Colleges, Prof. Balram Pai; Director, South Campus, Prof. Shri Prakash Singh; Chairperson, KNC Governing body, Shri Jaydeep Ahuja; and Treasurer, KNC Governing body, Shri Anwar Shahid.

The college’s principal, Dr. Kalpana Bakhuni elaborated upon the various ways the college had moulded itself to function in such unprecedented times of the COVID crisis, such as through the use of online resources, technology, as well as the various aids that were provided to the students through schemes like ‘Recharge the Learning Scheme’.

Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh also addressed the audience, appreciating the college’s efforts in adapting to this changed learning environment as well as in the context of the new academic block. He also brought attention to the NEP, emphasising the role played by higher educational institutions and teachers in the implementation of the policy and the need to properly understand the intricacies of the same. He also talked about the guiding principle behind this policy, which is inculcating a more comprehensive, all-encompassing, and value-enriched curriculum rather than one which is solely focused on academic achievements of students. 

 

Read also “Guiding Lights in ‘Unprecedented Times’: DU Professors” https://dubeat.com/2022/02/guiding-lights-in-unprecedented-times-du-professors/ 

 

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

 

Manasvi Kadian

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Campus Central

Delhi Student Bodies Protest Against Discontinuation of MANF, Allege Manhandling by Police

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The Maulana Azad National Fellowship Scheme provided 5 years of financial support to minority scholars.

On 12th January 2022, members of the SFI (Students’ Federation of India) demonstrated against the government’s discontinuation of the Maulana Azad National Fellowship Scheme in front of the Ministry of Education, as well as at the University of Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University. Also part of the protest were members of the All India Students’ Association (AISA), Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Students’ Union (MSU), Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) and JNU Students’ Union, as well as students from institutions across the capital. The Maulana Azad National Fellowship was launched in 2009 and provided financial support for five years to students from six notified minority communities: Buddhists, Christians, Jains, Muslims, Parsis and Sikhs who were pursuing MPhils or PhDs.

While the government has claimed the decision to roll it back was taken because it overlapped with other schemes, opponents have argued that this justification is invalid, as students cannot benefit from more than one educational scheme in any case. They have also pointed out the discontinuation of other government aid such as the pre-matric scholarship for SC, ST, OBC and Minority students. They see this decision as part of a larger attack on minority scholars.

Shakir, a PhD student from DU, and a recipient of the MANF, told edexlive.com that following the decision he “will essentially have to stop my research, or rush through it to submit it soon.” 

My academic journey will stop here. There are costs associated with being a research scholar that I cannot bear without this scholarship.” – Shakir, in conversation with edexlive.com

The protestors have alleged that they were manhandled by the police, being dragged across the road and shoved into buses despite demonstrating peacefully. Several students sustained injuries, and over 100 were detained at the Mandir Marg Police Station.

As far as I saw, all of the policemen at the protest were men and they seemed hostile right from the beginning. They soon began to push and shove us around, including the female protestors, and even those who were not seriously injured came out of the experience battered, both physically and otherwise.” – an MA student at the demonstration.

 

The student is not a member of any student political organisation, but attended the protest as she fears that the discontinuation of the MANF and other schemes like it will prove disastrous for her career as a scholar.

Feature Image credits: DU Beat

Shriya Ganguly

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Arts & Culture

DU Societies: Online or Offline 

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As a semblance of normalcy begins to return to functioning around us, Delhi University performance-based societies choose to go offline with their workings – a decision that risks alienating outstation students who are still hesitant to return to campus. Read on to find more. 

Delhi University sees a diverse crowd in all terms. The play of privilege has come to the forefront in the era of the digital divide. We witnessed students committing suicide, leaving education, and going to all ends to just afford a phone or laptop for studies. In this phase, where do the cultural societies of Delhi University stand?

In the online scenario, all the performing societies were forced to operate in the online space, as a result of which we saw many online productions, audio plays, and virtual open mics. But the transition phase in DU societies has begun even before the colleges are officially reopened. A few months back a lot of performing societies started functioning offline, some with or without permission from the college authorities.

These mainly comprise drama societies, music and dance societies which need offline spaces to carry on with their operations smoothly. But since DU is not a university of Delhi students only, the question that ‘Do DU societies belong only to Delhi people?’ seems pretty valid in a scenario where outstation students are being repeatedly sidelined by the indiscriminate move to go offline with functioning.

Just a few days back Mood Indigo, the fest of IIT Bombay, organized the prelims for its street theatre competition, where some of the prominent societies performed with their productions like Ibitida, Hindu College, Hansraj Dram Soc, Kahkasha JMC, Lakshya, Kamla Nehru College, Anubhuti, Sri Venkateswara College, and many others. DU Beat talked to Simran from Hansraj Dram Soc to understand their take on conducting offline practices and workshops in collaboration with other societies.

We first years came into the society to perform and sadly it was not happening. Offline practices were essential for us to learn how DCTC worked as we will soon become seniors and the onus of training others will be on us.”

An outstation member of Kshitij, the street play society of Gargi College which organised an offline workshop in collaboration with Hansraj Dram Soc, on grounds of anonymity, shared their views with DU Beat,

If we talk about outstation students, someone who has never seen their college, for them, online meets are everything, that screen becomes more than just a screen. Offline meets are not fair to them, and they cannot be expected to travel long distances to attend, it is just not fair. They are missing out on experiences and lessons because of the circumstances. In the end, it comes down to whose perspective you choose to see – that of the helpless first year or the third year who will choose the offline mode due to the sheer rigour and space it allows one to work in.” 

The culture of performing societies is surely a source of pride for the University of Delhi but another thing that the nukkad nataks propagate is the call for equality. In such a situation, when being in Delhi means being able to experience the societies, aren’t these societies becoming elite spaces? Various outstation students, who can afford to be in the city for internships or societies have moved here already, so who is actually being left behind? For these answers, we talked to Jai Mahajan from Shunya, Ramjas who shared his society experience.

Being in an online space has affected theatre but we are trying our best to level the playfield. Shunya is trying to come up with a fusion of both online and offline work. Surely people in the offline mode are learning and adapting quickly, but it’s up to seniors how they balance the collaboration.” – Jai, a member of Shunya, Ramjas

In the month of November, Shunya conducted its first series of month-long offline workshops. Students across departments and years from the college attended the workshops, which were conducted by incumbent and erstwhile members of the society on a wide range of topics relating to theatre. But the attendees also included a large number of outstation students who flew down to the city specifically to attend these workshops. Although safety precautions were adequately taken for the same, the decision to conduct these workshops in the offline mode, which many society members too could not attend, still remains under question.

As the auditions of performing societies were conducted in the online mode in the time of the digital divide, it already pushed out students from backward sections of societies. Several talented students could not audition due to unstable internet, and some had to travel elsewhere just for the sake of giving their auditions. And after that exclusion, the dispersion of outstation and Delhi students brings forth the question of representation. Performances talking about the evils of caste and class while propagating on those same foundations are making a farce of the art form.

We can’t lose out on practice just because the colleges are online now. To get on the stage and win awards and experience that feeling of dancing in front of people cheering for you hoping that you win. To learn things online is really difficult, offline practice is of the utmost necessity if you want to bring the best out of your crew. There is no formal permission as such but socs have never totally depended on college to practice even when it was offline.” – A member of a dance society

DU performing societies have been known for their rigorous working, but the entire working process changed owing to the prevailing conditions. Talking about how his society operates, Tushar, a member of The Dramatics Society of Dyal Singh Evening College, Junoon said,

Most of the members of our society are from Delhi, offline meets are recorded, and activities are discussed in the online meets. The same activities are done in the online mode with some tweaks to make them feasible.”

Meanwhile, Jai from Shunya, Ramjas shared how audio plays helped them bridge the gap to some extent.

Some of our members are from Kashmir and places where there is low connectivity; for them, we practiced and explored auditory drama on phone calls.”

Shruti, the President of Lakshya, KNC, shared her society experience of working in the online mode. For better functioning, they divided the team into two where outstation members worked on the stage production, working with characters, while the Delhi students worked on street play.

At least some of the students would learn and know something; this year we are focusing more on learning and teaching.”

There are also various societies that chose not to function in the offline space. Siddhi from LSR Dramsoc shared her take on the issue,

Even though the offline experience was beautiful, we chose not to practice in offline mode since we have people from other cities as well in our society. We need to adapt to the times, and to pass on the culture, we talk about our past experiences and activities, so our juniors know about the working. DCTC as a group needs to think and engage in dialogue to come to a better and more feasible conclusion.”

While sharing her experience of being an outstation student, a member of a drama society said in a conversation with DU Beat,

It doesn’t feel like a team anymore; the production doesn’t feel ours. If offline working brings back the culture of theatre it also breaks the team apart in two. It’s a sort of slow coercion over outstation students to leave since we don’t play any active part. We feel like outsiders instead of outstation students, where we realize being in Delhi is a privilege that we can’t afford.” 

Despite the brouhaha surrounding the debate around offline and online functioning, there are societies that have accepted the online mode and have gone ahead with annua productions; for example, the Shakespeare Society of St. Stephens College performed their annual production for the year Chateau Manor House on Zoom a few weeks back. The reluctance of many societies to adapt to the same mode is, on one hand preserving the physical essence of these performance societies. At the same time, it risks non-functioning and becomes largely emblematic of the larger hegemony present in these societies to refuse to adapt to changing times and tweak and challenge procedural functionings that have been set in stone for years now.

Image Credits: Sabha, the dramatics society of St. Stephens College 

Read Also: The Rise of OTT: Destruction of The Theatre Culture?
Remembering Safdar Hashmi: Inquilab and Theatre

Kashish Shivani ([email protected]) 

Anwesh Banerjee ([email protected]) 

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