Latest
DU Beat – Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper
Tag

protest

Browsing
DUB News

NSUI Protest Against Violence in Delhi

By

Members of National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) Delhi protested against the violence instigated in Delhi outside Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal’s residence.

On Tuesday, 25th February 2020, members of National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) Delhi protested against the violence instigated outside Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal’s residence. Also, NSUI members raised slogans against Delhi violence at Lieutenant Governor’s residence in the wee hours of morning, around 1:30 a.m.  Following this, NSUI members were detained by Delhi Police, as per the Press Release released by them on the same day.

NSUI activists organised a peace march to protest against Delhi violence from Delhi University Student Union (DUSU) office at Faculty of Arts, North Campus. Delhi University students joined NSUI activists and participated in the peace march by holding the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in hand.

Ashish Lamba , Secretary of Delhi University Student Union (DUSU) from NSUI said, “The NSUI activists protested at Lieutenant Governor’s house in Civil Lines regarding the violence which took place in Delhi and the Lieutenant Governor still did not respond and kept himself as a mute spectator. We were detained at Civil Lines Police Station. In the evening NSUI led DUSU also took out a Shanti candle march from DUSU office to Arts Faculty in order to appeal for peace.”

NSUI members stated, “It is a pre-planned conspiracy by BJP leaders. This violence and atrocities against minorities and Dalits has been raised and now we can see the riots on minorities and Dalits. NSUI will keep its fight against such violence and will spread Mahatma Gandhi ‘s Ahimsa Marg among the people of India.” NSUI demanded Home Minister Amit Shah’s resignation and asked him to step down from the ministry.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

Paridhi Puri

[email protected] 

 

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

Citizens of Delhi Demand Peace

By

The first reaction to North-East Delhi riots, protesters gather at Jantar Mantar for a sit-in protest to demand peace.

Following the riots in the North-Eastern part of Delhi for the past three days, hundreds of protesters gathered on a short notice for a sit-in at Jantar Mantar on 26th February. A quiet crowd was observed comprising not just students but also professors, journalists and many others from different walks of life. People raised slogans such as “I am Ashamed” or “Kab tak mareinge ek dusre ko? Tham jao, bas karo! Iss nafrat ko khatam karo (How long are we going to fight among ourselves? Calm down! Let’s end this hatred)” under the banner of ‘Delhi Wants Peace’.

Multiple speakers addressed the crowd that had gathered there. Vrinda Grover, a lawyer and human rights activist, talked about the role of Delhi police in insuring impunity for the rioters. Navsharan, Karwan e Mohabbat member, addressed the efforts made to ensure availability of medical teams for the injured during the riots. Dipankar Bhattacharya, member of Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), discussed how riots are an attempt to undo the Delhi election mandate. Many other speakers were also heard.

Kavita Krishnan, member of All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIWPA), told DU Beat, “College and university students can play a very big role in mobilising for peace around your colleges and wherever you live. The first thing that you can easily do is go with some flowers or sweets and meet your neighbours. Especially where Muslim students and Kashmiri students are staying. Meet them, understand that they are vulnerable, offer them your friendship and solidarity. Even where there aren’t students, if you know of any locality close by, better to go door to door, whether Hindu or Muslim, distribute sweets and flowers and ask them to be a part of an initiative for peace. Tell them to stop their neighbours from being violent, and protect those in danger.”

Deepika Shergill, another protester, talked about hope in such trying times. “If you’re talking about hope, I actually feel very hopeless and helpless. I’m here as a very concerned Delhi person, a very concerned Indian. I’m trying to find a way how I can make myself relevant to bring this to a stop. When I see that your generation has taken to the street, I do feel that you guys are taking charge. But it’s going to be a long battle. But at least there is a battle; one is not sitting back. Everyone is out here because we all are concerned and I think I take my hope out of it.”

Shahbaz Ansar, a reporter at The Press, also shared his views from a journalist’s perspective. “Mere kayi aise friends hain jinke baare mei abhi tak report nahi hui hai; jinke personal accounts maine sune hain. Jaise meri ek friend hai Sushmita Sinha. Voh kal gayi Jafrabad aur fir tear gas ka usko samna karna pada aur even harassment ka usko samna karna pada. Bohot log yeh saari baatein likhte nahi hain kyunki unke parents pareshan ho jaayeinge. Toh mujhe lagta hai ki jo journalist bohot zyada mehnat kar rahe hain aur in sabh cheezon ko face kar rahe hain aur voh ground pe jakar dekh rahe hain, unse jab aap baat karoge toh voi sare aapko khul kar bataayeinge ki jo police hai voh mili hui hai rioters ke saath. Toh yeh bohot hi alag situation hai kyunki jab rioters ke sath police mil jaati hai toh samajh lo that you are being ruled by criminals. (I have many friends whose encounters haven’t been reported; who’s personal accounts I’ve heard. For instance, I have a friend Sushmita Sinha. Yesterday when she went to Jafrabad, she had to face tear gas and harassment. Many don’t write about these experiences as it might disturb their parents. So I think that the journalists who work hard, face everything and observe everything from the ground would openly claim that the police have joined the rioters. This is a very different situation because when police joins the rioters, then we may conclude that we are being ruled by criminals).”

Feature Image Credits: Aditi Gutgutia for DU Beat

Aditi Gutgutia

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

Delhi University Hostel Residents Protest Amidst Coarse Comments by Warden

By

The residents of Ambedkar Ganguly Students House for Women, Delhi University (DU) broke open the lock of their hostel late on Sunday night in protest of the alleged remarks by the hostel warden and against the “arbitrary” rules and regulations, including curfew timings. Other hostels from the Girls Hostel Complex showed their solidarity.

The rehearsals for the Hostel Night of Ambedkar Ganguly hostel for women took a controversial turn after the warden allegedly passed comments on a dance performance for being ‘disrespectful’ and objected to the clothes for being ‘ revealing’. She asked the girls to cut those parts of the performance which were  ‘disrespectful’ according to her. On being asked for an explanation of the same, an altercation took place between the residents and warden and the hostel gates were locked. The residents protested against demanding a written apology and resignation of the warden. They broke open the lock of their hostel late on Sunday night in protest of the alleged “arbitrary” rules and regulations, including curfew timings.

Solidarity was shown by other various hostels like Ambedkar Ganguly Students House for Women, North Eastern Students House for Women, Rajeev Gandhi Hostel for Girls, University Hostel for Women, and Undergraduate Hostel for Girls (UGHG) against the hostel curfews and problems faced by women in Delhi University Hostels. There was a heavy police presence whole night.

A resident of UGHG, on conditions of anonymity, commented, “ Though due process has been followed by all the hostels, by writing applications and by complaining to the authorities they seem disinterested and not considerate”.

The student collective under the name of Women for Equality consisting of residents from various hostels of the Girls hostel complex have demanded the administration to immediately follow the University Grants Commission (UGC) Guidelines and the Saksham Committee Report, and “remove patriarchal and unconstitutional curfew from all women’s hostels”.

The student body is planning to launch a protest from 27th February against the hostel rules. Their statement said, “Even the men on campus will see their female counterparts as lesser beings if women do not have the same rights as they do. By restricting women in the public sphere, is it how the institutions are preparing us or the ‘next generation leaders for the real world” ?


View this post on Instagram

Tomorrow is Ambedkar Ganguly Student House (Delhi University)for Women’s Hostel Night and the warden told girls who were performing that ” their dance is disrespectful ” “Their body should remain a mystery, so no revealing clothes ” And when we asked her for explanation she said “toh theek hai agar aapko ek boob dikha ke nikalna hai ya nanga nachna hai toh andar dikhao, bahar nahi” This was the introduction of a dance performance: Surviving and Fighting Patriarchy is an exhausting experience for women. So here is a performance about women being unapologetic and liberated. She said, this is not liberalism. She also told girls to cut those parts of performances which according to her were “disrespectful “. When the residents asked for an explanation, she walked off telling the guard ” band kardo gate”. This kind of cheap, disgusting and derogatory behavior and moral policing is intolerable. The women of Ambedkar Ganguly Hostel demand a written apology and won’t settle for anything less than RESIGNATION OF WARDEN. SHAME!!

A post shared by DU FOR EQUALITY (@aurateinlayengiinquilab) on

Feature Image Credits: Deewanshi Vats for DU Beat 

Sriya Rane

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Arts Faculty

DU Gathers to Protest against Communal Violence in North East Delhi

By

After days of sustained violence in Jaffrabad, Seelampur, and other parts of North East Delhi, students of Delhi University (DU) hold a protest gathering at Arts Faculty to protest against the communal violence perpetrated by in these areas.

On 23rd February 2020, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad had called a Bharat Bandh in favour of reservations and against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), National Register of Citizen (NRC), and National Population Register (NPR) exercise, in response to which women of Seelampur and Jaffrabad organized a Chakka Jam on the same day. The violence perpetrated by rioters allegedly associated with Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on the same day, and with the violence sustaining till now, many are calling the riots a state sponsored pogrom of the muslim community and the protestors against CAA, with the police acting as silent bystanders while Delhi burns at the hands of the rioters.

On the morning of 25th February, Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) organised a protest gathering against the state sponsored violence in Northeast Delhi. Beginning at 1:30 p.m, the protest had various speakers from the affected areas, students, and performances from DU Theatre societies.

Shaurya, a student pursuing Masters in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University, who had been volunteering at the protest sight for the last month, shared, “ the incidents that took place yesterday are commonly being blamed by the media on one identified gunman who has been arrested, who does belong to the Muslim community. Hence the media is blaming the community as a whole for inciting violence. This is not a riot between two communities, but a orchestrated plan by the RSS and the government acting in collusion with the police force aiding the rioters. The violence began two days ago when Kapil Mishra went to Maujpur- Babarpur with a team of RSS supporters and invited violence and started stone pelting.”

Talking about yesterday, when the levels of violence reached a new level with arson and shootings, he said, “Yesterday, RSS leaders in these areas clearly incited violence, with no police action being taken even after multiple calls being made to them, along with perpetrators being identified on video footage, the police did not act.  A group of concerned citizens from various groups met the Joint Commissioner of police who said that the investigation had not yet led to any conclusive results and refused to send any police to the area. Therefore, it is important to identify that this is  a state orchestrated attack against muslims who are protesting against the NRC-CAA-NPR.”

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

Prabhanu Kumar Das

[email protected]

 

 

Keep Reading
By
DU Annual Fest Season

Gargi College Panel Records 600 Testimonies from Students Regarding Reverie 2020

By

A probe by the committee revealed gross lapses in the overall security at the fest and that the college had underestimated the number of participants in the fest on the campus.

On 6th February 2020, the third day of the college’s annual cultural fest ‘Reverie’, many students of Gargi college in the South Campus of the Delhi University alleged that a mob of outsiders gate-crashed into the campus and manhandled and sexually harassed the students. 

A fact-finding committee conducting an independent probe into the alleged molestation of female students of Delhi University’s Gargi College here on February 6 has so far recorded and examined the statements of over 600 witnesses, varsity sources said on Wednesday.

The Delhi High Court had on Monday issued notices on a petition seeking a CBI probe into the molestation incidents. 

The probe, after a general body meeting with the students, recommended that the college’s staff be sensitised to gender issues after many students complained about the lax attitudes of the administration when the misdemeanours had first been reported.

 “The committee found that the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) is grossly biased and compromised and that a new ICC be formed as per UGC requirements by February-end,” the college’s student body said in a statement. The Committee also said that a second, more conclusive report would be constructed to address the event in its entirety. A decision has also been taken to form a new ICC as per the requirements of the University Grants Commission (UGC). The committee is to be formed by the end of February.

Moreover, A second-year student told IANS that aggrieved students will meet with Delhi Commission for Women on Friday on the matter.

“It would be great if the findings of the committee help in improving the attitude of the college administration towards students’ complaints and issues, and a general attitude of the university towards student and womens’ issues,” says a first year student from the college.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Geetanjali Khandelwal is leading the investigation in the said case. With the arrest of two more persons by Delhi Police on Tuesday, the total arrests in the case have gone up to 17.

The accused were arrested under Sections 452, 354 and 509 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, police said on Tuesday. Of them, 10 have been granted bail by Delhi’s Saket court.

 

Image Credits: DU Beat Archives
Satviki Sanjay 

[email protected] 

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

Women and Gender Cells Across The University Rise Against Hindu College’s “V-Day Puja”

By

After the controversy following the “V-Day Puja”, Women and Gender cells from across the University have risen to support the struggle of students at Hindu College against the sexist tradition, by observing a protest at the College on 17th February 2020.

 On 17th February 2020, Hindu College observed a demonstration against the College’s annual ‘V-Day Puja’ , annually celebrated on the Valentine’s Day, and the unsuccessful executional ban over this year’s annual puja. Despite previous negotiations amongst the Student body and the Administration, deciding an unanimous ban over the event for this year, it was still observed by the Boys’ Hostel Union on 14th February 2020.

Students claim that ABVP’s  men were allegedly involved amongst the mob that ignored the administration’s denial of permission and continued to observe the tradition.  A demonstration was therefore observed against the incident at 1 pm outside the college. However, ABVP has denied all claims of involvement, and have called the rumours of their involvement as criminal defamation.

Ankitaa Biswas, President, ABVP Hindu College told DU Beat, “ABVP-Hindu College was not involved in any act of hooliganism that happened on 14 February,2020 during the V-tree function within the college premises. Neither ABVP, nor any ABVP activist partook in the impugned act of campus commotion. All allegations pertinent to ABVP’s involvement in a bevy of mischievous acts ranging from provocative poster-making to incendiary sloganeering are unsubstantiated and appear contrived to sully the organization’s good name and reputation. Such unfounded assertions constitute criminal defamation.”

She further added, “According to several eyewitnesses, the sequence of events on that fateful day stands in stark contrast to the ridiculous claims being made by ABVP’s ideological adversaries. Saboteurs belonging to SFI, AISA and Pinjratod trespassed into the Hindu College, misbehaved with the students, and made extensive efforts to vitiate the atmosphere of peace and harmony on the campus.”

The Administration of Hindu College has been in question regarding the ‘V-Day Puja’ for years, with people claiming the tradition to be discriminatory, patriarchal, Brahmanical, and a blatant display of toxic masculinity and sidebars for female dignity. After the condemnation of the tradition gaining momentum, the students were denied permission by the Administration to observe the Puja. Yet the puja was still observed on 14thFebruary, with no retaliation from the administration and allegations of ABVP hooligans’ involvement in the mob that disregarded the official orders.

“The misogynistic acts besides V-Tree and violence on women and protestors on Valentine’s Day inside the College premises. We condemn such misogynistic and violent acts, stand in solidarity with the victims and demand immediate disciplinary actions against the harassers and who violated the decision which was declared the Principal in the Students-Admin meeting. The incident that happened at Gargi College shook us all and compelled us to think are University Spaces really safe for women? Are University Spaces really inclusive? This sorts of mobs that often enter College and University spaces to wreak havoc that we also noticed in JNU. All of us have to fight against the mob constitutionally and peacefully,” All India Queer Association (AIQA) stated.

Various Women and Gender Cells from across the University have risen up to provide support and stand in solidarity with the women students of Hindu College, namely the Women Development Cell of Miranda House, Lady Sri Ram College, Sri Venkateswara College, as well as Gender Forum of Ramjas College, The Gender Studies Cell of St. Stephen’s College, IP Student’s Collective, and the Delhi School of Journalism.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

Shreya Juyal

[email protected]

 

 

 

Keep Reading
By
DUB Speak

The Best Art Is Political

By

In times like today, when the nation burns and dissent curbs, where does the agitation divert to? In times like today, when the nation burns and dissent curbs, we seek solace in art. 

Protests. Music. Posters. Slogans. Paintings. Doodles. Protests. Years back these must have been random words stringed together, today, they are all part of a revolution to seek the truth and preserve the tarnishing ideals of our democracy. As more streets echo Hum Dekhenge, self-composed songs, witty slogans, posters, graffiti, social media too simultaneously creates content on all platforms. 

Throughout history, art has remained a crucial part in evoking the idea of nationalism. The Swadeshi Movement was laid down on the ground rock foundation of art- from Raja Ravi Varma to Abanindranath Tagore, their legacy still thrives in the very image of ‘Bharat Mata’ which has been appropriated by the other side of the wing, time and again. Historically, the world has not been much of a pleasant place politically, to begin with, ravaged with wars, suppression, overturned democracy and conflict for power. 

Image Credits: The Hindu
Image Credits: The Hindu

The Emergency 1975-77 amidst all the press restrictions paved way to one of the most iconic political cartoons which still finds a place in politics and journalism books. The Common Man by R.K. Laxman till date stands relevant in the sphere of political art. Keeping the art- ‘art’ aspect out of it, any content created by anyone is art- poetry, literature, paintings, everything is art.

Globally, too, graffiti, poetry and photography have rather been more dominant on social media. From Trump to Brexit, Syria to Hong Kong, protests have been largely dominated and propagated with art as a backbone.

Image Credits: The Guardian
Image Credits: The Guardian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sharanya Vajjha, an amateur Artist and Political Science student says, “I really feel it’s a creative and articulate way to show someone that you disagree. Visuals are a far more effective medium in making a point, then why not make it instrumental in showing our resistance?”

Instagram today is a platform for everyone with a voice, with the rise in citizen journalism, all forms of art have emerged to be an influential way of criticising. After 15 December (Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) Violence) and 5 January (Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Violence), Instagram stories and Twitter, was flooded with creative posters, slogans, poetry, and songs.

Bol Ke Lab Azaad Hai Tere!, Azaadi, Hum Dekhenge!, Inquilab Zindabad!, dominated both the streets and sheets (literally). Idle backseat doodlers are leading protests and slogans with their art, brave images of JMI and JNU students fighting back, have become a digital symbol to show solidarity.

Who said art is for the weak-hearted?  Walking the streets of Delhi today, every wall shouts “Jai Bhim” and “No CAA, No NRC”. Bangalore’s walls are painted in shades of the OG Shah-Modi’s colour. Kolkata is well, painted in red. Political art is silent, yet screams the most.

Disha Arya, an amateur photographer covering the protests all over Delhi says, “Photography as an art form lends you an eye on different perspectives which are not observable otherwise. I hope to inspire nationalism with what I click and wish for an urgent realisation against the ongoing fascism and curbing of dissent expressed.” 

Modern urban politics have largely been incited and popularised to reach its maximum extent, solely due to creativity. People often perceive art to be apolitical, however as history has it, apolitocal art is just an oxymoron.

Feature Image Source: @afsaanehoor on Instagram 

Anandi Sen

[email protected]

 

 

 

 

Keep Reading
By
Arts & Culture

Students at Gargi College Continue to Protest against the Administration

By

Students of Gargi College continue to demonstrate their agitation against the incidents of molestation and callous security at Reverie 2020 to demand answers from the College’s administration.

On 11th January, the student body of Gargi College, Delhi University gathered at 10 a.m. near the main arc for a dissent demonstration against the abominable administration and sexual harassment incidents that occurred at the College’s annual cultural fest, Reverie on 6th February 2020. The collective complaints and demands were read to all the students at 10:10 a.m. By 10:30 a.m. the entire mobilisation moved to the arts quad along with the administration and the principal and at 10:45 a.m. the administration expressed categorical support after listening to the demands and complaints. At 11 a.m, the administration and the principal demanded an hour to formulate a way for meeting our demands.

The student body in the meantime was addressed by the DCW (Delhi Commission for Women). The authorities of the DCW expressed how they’ll send an official notice to the administration of Gargi College and to the Police present on campus on 6th February. At 12:30 a.m. the staff council and administration addressed the students again wherein the student body was told that a fact-finding committee would be set up which will comprise of an elected teacher and student from each department that brings it to a total of 34 member team.

In a press release, it is stated that “The committee will work independently of the administration and all other forms of authorities in college. Further questions and grievances were addressed to the entire administration and the principal were a written apology, a minimum-security plan, a press release and written answers were demanded. The administration has been granted two days to get back to the student body with the demands which also includes the breakdown of the entire budget of reverie with special emphasis to the budget allocated to the security.” Each of the 17 departments is to have a representation in the “fact-finding” committee comprising of one teacher and one student voted by the students, with each group looking after different issues, particularly the budget issued and its distribution for the event. Another group of the committee would be looking into the harassment complaints. The committee will be given a week to collect the evidence, the representatives chosen after the popular vote would be open to listening to all students and their personal testimonies without bias.

The students of the college have been observing dissent demonstrations to protest against the lax security and harassment cases that occurred during this year’s Reverie. The Principal of the college, present at the meeting, issued a statement claiming that she condemns the incidents that occurred at the fest, and that a fact-finding committee will be set up which will collect the evidence and the complaints by the students and get them reported to the police if the student desires, as well as keeping open the option of the students reporting directly to the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of the college with their details remaining confidential. Students claimed that when they had reported harassment incidents to the Principal during Reverie, they had been allegedly urged to “not come to these events if they felt unsafe.”

Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) have also heavily condemned the mass sexual assault and harassment of women students in Gargi College. In a press release, Rajib Ray, President, DUTA, stated, “The DUTA condemns the perpetrators of mass sexual assault and abuse of women in Gargi College, as has been reported to have taken place through the afternoon and evening of February 6, 2020. The DUTA is shocked that the breaches of the peace, violation of law and order and abuse of female students in their own campus has been acknowledged so late, after over three days of its having taken place. Criminal unwillingness on the part of the officiating college principal to accept security lapses and act swiftly against the riotous men who forced entry into the college campus,  molested and abused women students in the presence of the Delhi Police, is to blame for this unacceptable delay.”

On the second day of the strike, 12th February, the police started investigating the case and have set up a base in the College itself. The students also took part in a General Body Meeting to formulate a high functioning Fact Finding Committee (FFC), that would investigate the events prior to Reverie, the events that happened during Reverie, and specific complaints against the administration of the College, and the organizing committee of Reverie 2020. The FFC shall become fully functional on 13th February, and has to submit its report by the 15th February 2020.

However, the students shall go into the third day of strike tomorrow, to seek a written apology, the formulation of the Internal Complaints Committee, and seek the budget from the Principal for Reverie 2019, and 2020.

Feature Image Credits: Sanyukta Singh for Gargi College

Shreya Juyal

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Arts & Culture

Rang De Basanti Today: From Retrospection to Anticipation

By

‘Ab bhi jiska khoon na khaula, khoon nhi woh paani hai, jo desh ke kaam na aaye, wo bekar jawani hai’, Rang De Basanti has registered itself as the very best form of narration from Bollywood over the past decades but has this tale found itself as the natural stimulus record of youth agitation and neo-patriotism?

When a bunch of young, restless and carefree students from Delhi University rise against the government’s actions, demanding justice and due resignation of a Union Minister who is responsible for the harsh consequences endowed upon their friend and his family, the ensuing repercussions take atrocious turns by the hands of the state. The above mentioned lines forms the premise of the 2006 Republic Day release Rang De Basanti, that celebrated youth and revolution like never before, since the National Freedom Struggle. It was only when these lines from this grand celluloid marvel gained relevance in the stark happenings throughout the nation that Rang De Basanti became the perfect manifestation of the ongoing struggle of students against the government and it’s policies like the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) & the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The popular adage ‘films are the reflections of society’ couldn’t have asked for a better paradigm than Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s cult classic Rang De Basanti, that narrates and encapsulates the essence of true patriotism which was in passé in an age of pseudo patriotism and cloud of fraudulence. The film while narrating the tale of the Indian freedom struggle and deeds of our heroes like Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Ashfaqullah Khan, Ramprasad Bismil, Sukhdev, Rajguru, and Durga Bhabhi, reinstates the essential quest for better and truly free India in a generation of liberalized, west-influenced & apolitical students who have lost hope in the India that the revolutionaries and freedom fighters fought for.

The continually decaying culture of historically informed and culturally envisioned youth which was absolutely unaware of the power it possessed and the influence it can promulgate; the diminishing culture of protests which was either a tale of old books or secluded from the young blood was transformed entirely in the scape of the tale in Rang De Basanti. It didn’t just prove to be a return to a sense of patriotism in the Young’s way but also increased democratic participation and belief in its principles.

From the energetic beats of Rahman, draped craftfully in Prasoon Joshi’s lyrics that gave us the Khoon Chala, Luka Chuppi, Rang De Basanti, or the youth’s anthem Robaroo & Khalbali, these sounds have found a rebirth as songs and poems of revolution in the ongoing protests around the nation. The story of the youth rebelling and leading with reformatory actions are the scene of the current state, where characters as diverse as a passed graduate to a rich brat, a skeptical student, an aspiring poet from humble Muslim background, a dedicated filmmaker, an honest right wing party worker and defense personnel, all get together to save the nation from the abyss, when needed.

The powerful dialogues like ‘Koi bhi desh mahaan nahi hota, use mahaan banana padta hai‘ have registered themselves in the form of posters, placards and pamphlets being passed around. In one scene from the movie where Aslam, played by Kunal Roy Kapoor, is seen designing a wall graffiti with slogans like Inquilab Zindabaad and a pint of pop culture, this has veritably inspired the artists who have crafted their minds out on walls and ways in Universities and other sites of protests.

The candlelight vigil at India Gate, was seen as a thought provoking idea by Mehra, Kamlesh Pandey and Rensil D’Silva, the ensuing instances in the country replicated this on various incidents, be it the Nirbhaya Case Or Jessica Lal Murder Case. Rang De Basanti (RDB) gave the nation a fresh way to protest – by mobilizing the youth. Coincidentally, the ongoing protests have been manhandled by the Police in the same way as the protesters were attacked in the movie when they gathered in support of Flight Lieutenant Ajay Rathod.

The enactment of freedom fighters by our reel life heroes did push them with the enthusiasm and made them aware of the change they can bring about, it wasn’t surprising to see the same cast of RDB with the names of Siddharth, Kunal Kapoor, Soha Ali Khan and Atul Kulkarni being the prominent voices from celebrity domain speaking out against the police actions in Jamia and JNU and backing the protesters.

The movie with it’s iconic climax of a frustrated youth taking on the government and inciting a spark of revolution among them after the heroes turned to alternate ways to seek justice and change saw stills from different universities of the country akin to what we witnessed in the case of the rotests in Jamia, JNU, DU & AMU.

Rang De Basanti leaves us with a very crucial lesson which must be the source of inspiration for each one of us that, ‘Zindagi jeene ke do hi tarike hote hai, ek jo ho raha hai hone do, bardaasht karte jao, ya phir zimmedari uthao usse badalne ki.’

 

Image Credits : India Times

Faizan Salik

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
DUB News

HC Interim Order Grants Relief to JNU Students

By

Delhi High Court places an interim order against the new JNU Hostel manual and asks JNU administration to keep registration fees, reservations, and priorities according to the old manual.

On 28thOctober 2019, The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Administration unveiled a new hostel manual with extremely steep hostel fee hikes. The rationale given by the JNU administration was that the hostel fees had not been revised for 19 years. However, these overall fee hikes would have led to JNU becoming one of the most expensive central universities in the country. The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) held massive and continuous protests against the decision by the administration, stating that according to the University’s own annual reports, 40% of the students who come from lower income backgrounds would not be able to afford the revised fees and would have to pursue education elsewhere, if at all.

 

Earlier this week, the Delhi High Court has granted a major relief to the students of JNU upon hearing a petition filed by AIshe Ghosh, JNUSU President and other office bearers against the new hostel Manual. According to a legal update dated 24th January, 2020, from JNUSU. The High Court has directed the JNU Administration to:

Firstly, allow for registration at old rates, as per the previous hostel manual; for students yet to register. Secondly, extend the last date of registration for a week without late fine. Thirdly, apply reservations and priorities/benefits according to the old hostel manual. And lastly, to hold dialogue with the students in order to resolve the issue.

Justice Rajiv Shakdher, who was hearing the case, points out that “Government can’t get out of education. Government has to fund public education. The burden of paying the salaries of contractual workers is not on the students. Someone has to find the funds.”

The next hearing of the case will be held on 28thFebruary , 2020.

 

Feature Image Credits: The Print

 

Prabhanu Kumar Das

[email protected]

 

Keep Reading
By