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On 17th January 2020, Miranda House hosted India Today’s Campus Face-off, which took a controversial turn after some students started protesting.

On 17th January 2020, India Today’s Rajdeep Sardesai and Aaj Tak’s Anjana Om Kashyap came to Miranda House for an edition of their show Campus Face-off. Campus Face-off is a special program where the anchors invite speakers from major parties, who debate and are questioned by the student audience. In Miranda House, they invited representatives from the three major parties of Delhi- Charu Pragya,  Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), Radhika Khera, Indian National Congress (INC) and Atishi Marlena, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

The anchors, Mr. Rajdeep Sardesai and Ms. Anjana Om Kashyap, conducted an informal session for 30 minutes before the taping, while waiting for the representatives of the parties to arrive. The anchors were asked questions on the current political scenario. When asked about the pressure on media, Ms. Kashyap replied, “Everybody’s perception of how news is being presented is different. We’ve become a very politically polarized country right now.” Rajdeep Sardesai also used this time to promote his new book How Modi Won India in 2019.

While the debate was to be on the issue of “Women Safety, Judgement on Nirbhaya Case, and other issues” in the face of upcoming elections, the panelists also discussed various other issues too, such as Kashmir, the violence in student campuses, economy and unemployment, and the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act-National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Mid-taping, a group of students stood up in the top-left corner of the room, and started silently protesting by holding up posters questioning police brutality, CAA-NRC, internet shutdowns, state of Kashmir, and such ongoing issues. The protestors, who were silent initially, started chanting, “Shame, Shame, Shame” on a comment made by the BJP representative denying the existence of the NRC. When the protestors began sloganeering, Mr. Sardesai asked them to come to the podium, and express themselves. The students expressed their discomfort at the suggestion saying that they stood as a collective, and asking one of them to represent them all would make that representative vulnerable to being targeted.

The protestors then moved to the centre of the room, near the podium, and began sloganeering again. A Kashmiri student then took to the podium and addressed the crowd in a very emotionally charged speech. “Do you know what is AFSPA? What about it’s victims? We are raped. Understand this…  I am not against them (pointing to the panelists). I am against you all (pointing to the crowd). Shame on you… Fuck you. Fuck you sir. Fuck you three also.”

At this, Mr. Rajdeep Sardesai asked them to be removed from the taping, “Madam, you are allowed to speak your views, but you cannot hijack the program.” The Congress representative, then, came and stood with the protesting students.

“The face-off that took place yesterday at the Campus darkened the face of any form of dissent, dialogue, and debate that Miranda has known in the history of its existence. Yes, the anchors allowed questions, but what they also did was make the entire engagement futile…  In the midst of it all, what actually suffered a setback was the culture of radical politics that Miranda prides itself on. The complacency, privilege and comfortable applause of the audiences stood out. The very audience that shamed and policed the tones of the voices of dissent in Miranda, never once questioned the nature of the ongoing debate and their lack of discussion on issues of the marginalized communities. The ones that gathered spine enough to register their protest on a platform as major as this have been let down. The culture of Miranda hangs its head in shame and silence. To begin with, it never was inclusive and ‘woke’ enough to accommodate the marginalized,” said a statement released by the Instagram handle, @mh_studentscollective.


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What went wrong when India Today came to campus: A trajectory of events.

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Anshula, a student present at the taping, said “ Rajdeep Sir, according to me, handled it professionally and asked them to protest silently if they want to. He asked them not to hijack the mic, saying there were other people also waiting to raise their concerns. I, too, support the cause, but feel like they could have used the platform better. They raised valid concerns and questions which are important to all of us, but using foul language invalidates the cause.”

The taping went on for more than two hours and ended around six in the evening.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

Satviki Sanjay

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The 2018 Annual Best Colleges of India Survey by India Today and Outlook saw multiple colleges of Delhi University and Jamia Milia Islamia included in the top ten.

The annual survey of best colleges done by India Today and Outlook was done through extensive survey methods that included detailed questionnaires and field visits and revealed the rising academic excellence of Delhi University and Jamia Milia Islamia.

The India Today annual survey was conducted in collaboration with Marketing and Development Research Associates (MDRA), a Delhi-based marketing research and consulting organisation. It surveyed around 1000 colleges in various streams across the country on the basis of a revised tightly-structured methodology. Field visits to over 100 colleges helped to survey them objectively through five broad parameters:  ‘Intake Quality & Governance’, ‘Academic Excellence’, ‘Infrastructure & Living Experience’, ‘Personality & Leadership Development’ and ‘Career Progression & Placement’.

Among the Best Arts Colleges of the country, St. Stephen’s College attained the 1st rank, while Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) was deemed to be in 2nd rank. Hindu College (3rd rank), Miranda House (4th rank) and Kirori Mal College (5th rank) were also among the top ten.

Among the Best Science Colleges of the country, Miranda House bagged the 1st Rank while Hindu College came second. St. Stephen’s (3rd rank), Kirori Mal college (4th rank) and Loyola College, Chennai (5th rank) were among the top ten as well.

In the list of the Best Commerce Colleges of the country, Sri Ram College of Commerce bagged the first rank.  Hindu College came second followed by LSR, Hansraj College and Department of Commerce, Christ College (Bengaluru), in that order.

Among the best colleges for Mass Communication, Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Delhi bagged the first rank followed by AJ Kidwai Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Milia Islamia (JMI). In a press release, JMI’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Talat Ahmad congratulated the centres and departments of the university and also said that the findings complemented JMI’s 12th rank in the ‘universities’ category in MHRD’s NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) for two consecutive years, 2017 and 2018.

In terms of other parameters as well, the colleges of Delhi University were again at the top position. A few categories where they shone were  Career Progression and Placement (Kirori Mal), Personality and Leadership Development (St. Stephen’s), Academic Excellence (LSR), Intake Quality and Governance (St. Stephen’s) and Cost of the Best (St. Stephen’s).

The survey done by Outlook in collaboration with the Mumbai-based research agency Drshti Strategic Research Services included detailed objective questionnaires that were sent to more than 2700 colleges in the country across 12 streams including Engineering, Medicine, Social Work and Mass Communication. Five key parameters of selection process & institute profile, academics, personality and development, placements, employment & graduating outcome, and infrastructure were used to judge the colleges while separate perceptual surveys were conducted among students, faculty members and other professionals.  

In the ranking of top Social Work Colleges in India, Delhi University’s Department of Social Work was granted the 2nd rank with an overall score of 929 with TISS, Mumbai bagging the 1st Rank and an overall score of 947. Among the Best Law colleges of the country Faculty of Law, JMI bagged the 5th position as did the Faculty of Architecture & Ekistics of JMI, in the Best Architecture Colleges category. In Mass Communication, AJK MCRC, Jamia Milia Islamia, was judged to be the best college.

DU Beat wishes the heartiest congratulations to the colleges for their achievements.

Feature Image Credits: India Today

Sara Sohail

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