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LSR Students React to the Principal’s Statement on BJP’s Official Instagram Page

By DU Beat April 13, 2026

LSR Principal, Kanika K. Ahuja faces extreme backlash from the students after her statement on Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam gets featured on BJP’s Official Instagram Handle.

On the 13th of April, the Bharatiya Janata Party posted on their official Instagram Page a series of reactions praising the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, that is, the Women’s Reservation Bill. Amongst those featured was the Principal of Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Dr. Kanika K. Ahuja.

In the video she addresses the Women’s Reservation Bill calling it “a constitutional course correction.” She goes on to say that the bill “reflects the shift from women’s development to women’s led development” and remains hopeful for the prospects it shall bring to the “women leaders” graduating from LSR. What appears as an ordinary video however, received raging reactions from the student community of LSR, including current students and alumni who expressed grave concerns over the college’s state of affairs.

The comment section of her video—what appears at first glance to have been recorded not at an official event, but exclusively for posting on BJP’s Page—has been exploding with comments from students across colleges, especially LSR bashing the Principal for her statement. One comment reads,

Women empowerment—yes sure. When we were not given a chance to raise our voices. When we were not allowed to make societies. When we were not allowed to invite some ‘specific speakers’ because we are APOLITICAL?”

Another comment reads, “Political neutrality in the rulebook of the Union and political endorsements in the feed. Interesting.”

The most common point of criticism that is presented by the students through their sarcastic remarks in the comments section remains against the ‘apolitical stance’ of Lady Shri Ram College, one that has repeatedly been reasserted, especially by the current Principal as reported by multiple students. Recently, an exhibition held by a society of LSR during the annual fest, Tarang 2026, was shut down after being taken out of context, due to its criticism of power hierarchy and certain political figures. Reportedly the Principal responded to the closure saying, “You need to understand that we as a government college can not side with or make any political statements.”

Similar incidents have sparked over the past year when certain performing societies were made to change their performance scripts to avoid “controversy” and maintain an apolitical stance, along with the Diwali festival of LSR’s NSS, titled ‘Noor’ for as long as students can remember, being changed to ‘Varshik Samaroh Diwas’.

The Deepak Vohra controversy last year, LSR’s non-affiliation with DUSU, and the college’s refusal to let Nivedita Menon, an ex-faculty member and an alumni of LSR, enter campus due to invitation by the non-affiliated LSR SFI was further pointed out by students who remain outraged by the Principal’s recording a video for BJP’s page. One comment writes,

Same college that did not allow Nivedita Menon’s session to happen btw on the pretext that it was organised by a non-affiliated organisation. Is LSR affiliated with the beejaypee now?”

A graduate from LSR, assumingly familiar Dr. Kanika K. Ahuja as a professor, before she became the Principal writes, “From preaching in psych classes about non-partisanship, emancipation, and what not to this.” An anonymously-led Instagram Page of LSR called for a protest in lieu of the same on the 15th of April.

However, while a majority of students continue to express their concerns and outrage over the impact of this video across Instagram, X, and Whatsapp, some students share their solidarity with their Principal. One comment writes, “Funny how every second comment here is trying to define ‘apolitical’. Reality? No one cares. The institution stands strong anyway. And we welcome the bill and ma’am’s stand.”

A similar sentiment was expressed by a fellow student on her Instagram story,

She’s speaking in women’s favour still getting hate cuz political parties matters more than women empowerment. Even I’m not a particular pol party supporter anymore but we should actually praise her for raising her voice on women’s empowerment rather than hating on her.”

What remains the larger question behind this outrage versus sympathy is the truth of being an apolitical college, especially an apolitical ‘women’s’ college in the 21st Century, within the space of Delhi University, and at large India. What consequences does this tag of ‘apolitical’ bear, not just upon the students, but the faculty and the administration, and what is the way forward to prevent as an alumni writes, “an institution undoing its own historical legacy”?

Image Credits: Vanya for DU Beat

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Campus Central

Discontinuation of NCC Safety Units in DU’s Lakshmibai College

By DU Beat August 24, 2025

Delhi University’s Lakshmibai College introduced NCC units last year to act upon the harassment complaints made by the students around the campus of the women’s college. The units, named after Hindu Goddesses Durga, Kali and Chandi may be discontinued after a year of their implementation due to changes in the authority and differing views on the subject.

No new enrolments in the units have been observed in this academic year, and the initiative is being planned to be discreetly peeled away from the college guidelines.

The regiments, introduced by the then principal, Pratyush Vatsala, were an attempt to empower young women, teachers and students and convert the campus into a safe space for every individual.

The selection for these units was made out of the college’s NCC wing, and the students had to go through a rigorous interview process. The chosen applicants were assigned one of the units along with their own uniforms consisting of the coloured themes of red, white and black. The college ensured weekly self-defence training of the members for their own safety and equipped them with bicycles to certify timely appearance in case of any such events reported.

The initiative was met with mixed responses throughout the campus upon its launch. Similar emotions are being stirred up again with the circulation of news of its termination.

A third-year student, who was a participant of the regiment, told The Times of India, “Now that the principal has changed, the system seems to be fading away. There have been no interviews or enrolments this year. We are not happy about it because such incidents of harassment are still a daily reality for us around the college.” She added, “Though a police cab is always stationed outside, the units gave us confidence to act when needed. It was an encouraging move and had a positive impact.”

During its initiation, the move was described by the college administration as a proactive step in making the campus safer, but the action drew criticism along the lines of accountability. Few believed that this would lead to the students taking the law into their own hands rather than relying on the authorities or the institute.

A faculty member expressed their concerns about the potential risks and said that the idea might unintentionally put students in harm’s way.

Image Credits: Collegedunia

Ananya Agarwal
[email protected]

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DUB News

SBSC (Evening) Warns Against Loitering During Class Hours

By DU Beat August 16, 2025

SBSC (Evening) has officially warned the students of loitering during class hours.

In a formal notice on 14th August, Arun Kumar Attree, the Principal of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (evening), announced that ‘strict disciplinary action’ would be taken against any student who isn’t in class during scheduled hours and is roaming around the campus without a proper reason.

The principal stated that these measures are important to be taken due to the disruption which is caused by the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections every year. He told the Indian Express that the election campaign is used as a reason not to attend classes. He aims to increase class attendance for students with this directive.

The notice specified that,

All students of the college are hereby informed that they must attend their classes strictly as per the scheduled timetable. Students are not permitted to loiter on campus during the period when their class is going on.

According to the college principal, the ban only applies to people who choose to loiter in groups rather than attend planned classes. The notice said,

Any students found loitering without a reason during their class will be liable for strict disciplinary action as deemed appropriate.”

The principal underlined that the action is also intended to keep the campus safe and orderly by removing any chance for ragging or other types of harassment. He emphasised that the goal was to protect the interests of the students, not to place excessive limitations. He informed the Indian Express that the college offers socialising opportunities and spaces to its students and that they are free to utilise the canteen, library, and other common spaces if they are not scheduled in for classes at that time. He also added that to help students with their academic and extracurricular activities, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (Evening) has extended its library’s completely air-conditioned reading hall hours till midnight.

Image Credits: sbsec.org

Anjali Kumari Jha

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DUB News

Interviews for the Post of Principal of Swami Shraddhanand College Stand Cancelled

By DU Beat March 1, 2020

Interviews for the post of Principal for Swami Shraddhanand College stand cancelled as Deputy Chief Minister states violation of norms as the reason.

On Friday, 28th February 2020, interviews scheduled on 1st March 2020 for the post of Principal, Swami Shraddhanand College were cancelled.

The cancellation is stated to be directed by Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Manish Sisodia to Delhi University Vice Chancellor, Mr. Yogesh Tyagi, citing violation of norms.

A notice dated 25th February 2020 was available on the college website. It stated the list of 20 shortlisted candidates who were called for the interview on 1st March 2020 at 10 a.m. in the International Guest House, North Campus. The applications for the post were in response to the Advertisement No. SSN College/ Principal/ Advt./ 2019 dated as 6th October, 2019.

Manish Sisodia, in a letter to Yogesh Tyagi said, “It is to inform that the appointment has to be made in accordance to norms. It is requested that the interview should not be conducted in the absence of a properly conducted governing body.”

“Hence, the interview fixed for selection of principal on March 1 must be cancelled immediately”, said Sisodia, in his letter.

Response from Yogesh Tyagi and Delhi University authorities could not be garnered. This report will be updated as and when a statement from them becomes available.

Priyanshi Banerjee

[email protected]

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Campus Central

Faculty of Law’s Dean and Head Professor Ved Kumari Resigns

By Kartik Chauhan June 18, 2019

Citing non-cooperation by the authorities as the reason, Dean and Head of Faculty of Law, Professor Ved Kumari resigns.

In a shocking turn of events, Dean and Head of Faculty of Law, Professor Ved Kumari has resigned from her position on Tuesday, 18th June.

Professor Kumari, who assumed the post on September 2nd, 2016, resigned three months prior to her term-end, citing “non- cooperation of the University authorities and illegal/ arbitrary actions of Professor-in-charge, Campus Law Center.”

In her letter addressed to the Vice Chancellor of the University, she writes, “I regret to say that despite doing my best, I have not been able to succeed and secure the best interest of the Faculty of Law in the last two years and nine months.”

In her letter, she made some shocking revelations which lead to her resignation.

She accused the institute and the authorities for allowing students with even 31 per cent attendance to take exams, and in this allowance, serving injustice to the hardworking students who attend the class regularly.

She also revealed that fake records of tutorial classes were maintained in the institute.

According to Professor Kumari, she has “repeatedly felt embarrassed and humiliated at no action and no response,” to her calls, letters, personal meetings as the Dean and Head by the University authorities, when asked for necessary action to be taken.

She believes that nothing will change in the coming three months and thus, she has decided to resign before her tenure ends.

Speaking to the dismal state of affairs at the Faculty of Law, she says that the institute deserves immediate support from the authorities to deal with the numerous issues hovering over it.

This is not the first time that one of the most prestigious law institutes of the country, Faculty of Law, has been embroiled in a controversy.

Last year, the institute came into the media’s scanner after LLB entrance exam and LLM semester exam papers were leaked.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat archives

Shreya Agrawal

[email protected]

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Campus Central

Stephen’s Supreme Council Row: Delhi HC Sends Notice to College

By Anushree Joshi June 5, 2019

The college’s controversial decision to have a member from the its ‘Supreme Council’ in the interview panel was challenged in court.

On 2 June, the Delhi High Court sent a notice to St. Stephen’s College following a plea by three faculty members challenging the decision of the college to have an additional member, from its Supreme Council, in the interview panel for admissions of students.

DU Beat had previously reported that the Principal of the college, Professor John Varghese had made this announcement in a meeting of the Staff Council of the college dated 13th May.

The decision was challenged in the High Court by the faculty members of the Governing Body of the college – Abhishek Singh, Nandita Narain and NP Ashley, for allegedly going against the constitution of the college.

The notice issued by Justice C Hari Shankar fixed 12th June as the next date for the hearing. A press release issued by him said that the counsels representing the faculty members argued that the decision “went against the constitution of Stephen’s College which expressly prohibited interference of the Supreme Council in the administration of the college.”

It further stated that “the counsel also pointed out the observation of the Supreme Court in the St. Stephen’s case of 1992 where the Supreme Court had held that admission of students was an essential facet of the of the administration of the college.”

“It had also approved the of the selection mode which at that time only had the principal and teachers of the department concerned conducting the interviews for admission of student,” it said.

The Supreme Council includes six members of the Governing Body of the Church of North India. The Chairperson of both the Governing Body and the Supreme Council is the Bishop of Delhi and the Member Secretary of both is the Principal of the college.

The decision was challenged for alleged violation of the constitution of the college. Clause 4 of the constitution reads, “The Supreme Council of the college shall have the control of the religious and moral instruction of students of the college and of all matters affecting its religious character as a Christian College of the Church of North India; and, in addition, shall appoint, after proper advertisement, the Principal of the College who shall be a member of the Church of North India or of a church that is in communion with the Church of North India.”

According to Clause 5, “The Supreme Council of the college shall have no jurisdiction over the administration of the college.”

Feature Image Source: St. Stephen’s College

Prateek Pankaj

[email protected]

(With inputs from ANI)

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Campus Central

Dr. Pratibha Jolly, Principal, Miranda House Retires

By Anushree Joshi February 28, 2019

Dr. Pratibha Jolly, the celebrated Principal of Miranda House, Delhi University, retired on 28^th February, 2019. Let’s take a look at her contributions to the college in the past 14 years as the Principal.

Dr. Pratibha Jolly has been the Principal of Miranda House since 2005. She is an alumna of the college, having pursued B.Sc. Honours in Physics and M.Sc. from 1970- 1975. After gaining a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from the University of Delhi (DU) in 1980, she went on to work in the areas of physics education research and curriculum development at the tertiary level. She was a faculty at Miranda House (1980-1988) before she moved to the Department of Physics and Astrophysics at DU as a UGC Research Scientist (1988-2002). She served as the Principal at Acharya Narendra Dev College (2002-2005) before moving back to Miranda House. Dr. Jolly, in her vibrant tenure, has brought several positive changes to the college.

One of her major contributions is making Miranda a disabled-friendly institution. Through her continuous efforts, Miranda House now has the Amba Dalmia centre within its library for the visually challenged students, and it also has computers that read out the text. There’s also an enabling unit called Lakshita. ‘Digital Vision’ is an app introduced in her tenure, installed in the phones of differently-abled students and is used at the time of admissions. This app scans QR codes (which can be found outside every room) and gives directions/number of steps to be taken to reach a particular place. There are a number of ramps across the college. Braille books in the library and a Braille notice board are also available. There are scanners, e-book readers, voice recorders, and a Braille embosser that converts printed text to embossed Braille dots for easy reading. All these developments are feathers in Dr. Jolly’s cap for inclusive development of her college. Dr. Pratibha Jolly will surely be missed for all her good work at Miranda House.

Feature Image Credits: Mahamedha Nagar

Sakshi Arora

[email protected]

(With inputs from DU Beat and Miranda House)

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St. Stephen's

New Principal appointed at St. Stephen’s College

By Abhinaya Harigovind February 15, 2016

Professor John Varghese, currently the Head of Department, Media and Communication, at the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, was appointed as the 13th Principal of St. Stephen’s College on Wednesday. The current Principal, Revd. Dr. Valson Thampu, who has held the office since 2007, retires on February 29.

The decision to appoint Professor Varghese as the Principal was taken by the Supreme Council of the college, along with Revd. Thampu himself. He was chosen from among three candidates who applied for the position. On February 10, Revd. Thampu announced on his Facebook page that, “The candidates eligible for the post were interviewed in detail today and the selection of Prof. Varghese was unanimous. Professor Varghese is an outstanding academic, experienced administrator and visionary leader.” He was formerly a faculty member at the Department of English in St.Stephen’s College. Revd. Thampu also wished Prof. Varghese “all blessings and good wishes in assuming this significant and challenging responsibility.” According to a Times of India news report, Prof. Varghese is an alumnus of Loyola College, Chennai. The same news report also mentions that the eligibility criteria and academic qualifications that a prospective Principal must meet at Stephen’s are rigorous.

Professor Varghese was introduced at the morning assembly held for first year students on February 11. “It will be interesting to see how much of the current system in college will be retained and continued,” said a first year student. On his Facebook page, Revd. Thampu has referred to his retirement as a festival that he looks forward to as a new beginning.

Image credits: ststephens.edu

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Hans Raj College

Hans Raj College appoints its first female Principal in history

By Iresh Gupta August 18, 2015

Last week, Hans Raj College, University of Delhi appointed Dr. Rama as the new Acting Principal after the successful tenure of Dr. V.K. Khwatra, the outgoing Principal. It’s the first time in the 67-year history of Hans Raj College that the command of the institution has been handed over to a female.

Dr. Rama had taken over as an Assistant Professor for Hindi at the college in August 1991. She is also the first ever-appointed Principal from the Hindi Department at the college. Dr. Rama is an alumnus of Delhi University with her degree in M.A. and M. Phil. (TV Media) from the University. She also has completed her Ph.D. in Journalism and Magazine Media from here. Dr. Rama also has a Post M.A. Diploma in Translations and Linguistics. Her diploma in Journalism from Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) is widely recognised. She also holds a degree from Kota Open University in BJMC. Apart from various academic achievements to her credit, Dr. Rama has also written nine books out of which five pertained to the studies of mass communication and others were taken up for literature and related subjects. . Her book, ‘Women and Print Media’ received an award by India Map magazine and it also got accolades from all its readers. She was also conferred with various ‘Best Teacher’ awards during her teaching career.

Dr. Rama told DU Beat that she will work in cohesion with the faculty and students and cooperate well to take the college to new heights. The students have already begun to feel the change under her tenure with the tightening of rules.

Image Credits- Principal’s Office, Hans Raj College

Iresh Gupta
[email protected]

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Campus Central

Alumnus of Stephen’s Flashes Middle Finger, gets a Display on Website

By DU Beat October 19, 2012

In what comes across as an extremely astonishing episode, the website of St. Stephen’s College has on display some rather unusual content. Apparently, a link on the website titled ‘Sacrilege on St Stephen’s College’ has a footage which captures an alumnus of the College flashing the middle finger towards the CCTV camera.

Reportedly, on October 13, Saturday, a group of six alumni, led by Amitabh Pande and Ashish Munna Joshi, came to the College to donate money to the owners of the Rohtas dhaba, recently barred from selling rolls. While strolling on the premises, Pande, in full view of the students, flashed the middle finger towards the CCTV camera installed in the corridor of the Dining Hall.

While Pande, an IAS officer, claimed that the gesture was a sign of protest against the existing culture of terror and that he was shocked to note the presence of CCTV camera outside the Dining Hall, the College Principal Dr. Valson Thampu perceives it as an insult directed towards the institution.

In fact, a note by him accompanying the footage said, “It is a spectacle too disgusting for the eyes of anyone who feels for the College. Even so, after mature reflection, I have decided to post it on the College website, so that all of us can reckon the execrable extent to which some have sunk in their inveterate hatred to the College.”

While talking to DU Beat, Tarinee Awasthi, student of the College, said, “ I think that while the form may have been a tad immature, the issues the alumni were protesting against are somewhat justified. I fail to comprehend the need for CCTV cameras in the College. In fact, it translates into a prison-like surveillance and insistence on unthinking discipline.”

She further added, “By following this sort of practice, it is being assumed that all students are delinquents and must be monitored. Honestly, it is a little offending to be treated as such.”

Another student, who didn’t wish to be named, said, “Even though the causes of protest were valid, they shouldn’t have stooped down to such a level. By doing something like this, you are indirectly posing a question on the values you have imbued from the institution. There are more learned ways to voice one’s opinion. A quintessential Stephanian will never sink to this level. It’s utter shame and nothing else.”

Here’s the link to the video: http://www.ststephens.edu/SACRILEGE.htm

Vatsal Verma
[email protected]

Image credits: Additi Seth

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