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

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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

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The Best Art Is Political

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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

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Arts & Culture

Students at Gargi College Continue to Protest against the Administration

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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

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Arts & Culture

Rang De Basanti Today: From Retrospection to Anticipation

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‘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

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HC Interim Order Grants Relief to JNU Students

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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

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Students from 30 Universities Unite Against CAA and NRC

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A fact finding team comprising the students from 30 prominent educational institutions of India  has been on a move to interact and collect details from the affected during the devastating incidents that took place during 14th to 19th January.

The young enthusiasts and the students of premier institutions, with their ongoing protests and struggles against the CAA and NRC have not only exemplified the power of youth in a representative nation, but have also contributed towards making the Government to rethink on the newly passed laws under the above mentioned acts. Continuing with the same, the students of 30 prestigious universities including Banaras Hindu University (BHU), University of Delhi (DU), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IITD), Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), National Law University (NLU), Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA), Allahabad University, and others, came together to create a students fact finding mission.

The mission was aimed at collecting facts and statements of the victims of the heavy violence that took place from 14th to 19th of January with a target to share the video and audio testimonies at a press conference scheduled for 22nd January. The team released a report on Uttar Pradesh police brutality in dealing with anti- CAA protests with specifically targeting the muslim population. The group of students travelled to all the 15 violence affected cities situated in Uttar Pradesh covering Meerut, Bijnor, and even Firozabad, primarily from January 14th to 19th.

A student of Jamia Millia Islamia informed about some of the common observations of the team which included, the police exclusively targeting the muslim ghettos which belonged to the economically weaker sections of the society. Rag pickers, daily wage labourers, workers of small dhabas were some of the few among them. As, per his statement police, instead of curbing the protest often indulged in open firing killing especially the minors paying no regard to the provision against firing above the waist.

He further explained about the instances where the injured who went for an X-Ray were not allowed to keep the reports and other documents with them. Not only this, as per his statement there are many hospitals in Uttar Pradesh who denied treatment to many wounded who lost their lives which otherwise could have been saved. In his final statements he said, “This violence can be seen as the culmination of communal polarisation spread by government and media over past few years affecting administrations and psyche of a common person, resulting in the generation of a sence of hatred towards a particular community.”.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

Kriti Gupta

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Young India Unites Against CAA

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On 20th January, 2020, Young India Coordination Committee called for Rally from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar, against Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA)-National Register of Citizens (NRC)-National Population Register (NPR), two days prior to Supreme Court’s hearing on the issue, along with All India Students’ Association (AISA), Krantikari Yuva Sangathan ( KYS ), Students’ Federation of India ( SFI ), All India Students’ Federation (AISF ) among others from Universties all over Delhi. 

20th January, 2020, observed a mass rally of students marching from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar at 1 p.m. against CAA-NRC-NPR. The rally was called for by Young India Coordination Committee along with multiple student organizations like AISA, KYS, SFI, AISF, Jawaharlal Nehru University Student’s Union (JNUSU), JCC, Joint Forum for Academic and Social Justice, Karwan-e-Mohabbat, Shaheen Bagh Protest Committee (United Youth Brigade), We the People among others.

Harsh Mandar, prominent Social Activist, said, “We are fighting against hatred with our love and Constitution. The Young India is showing us the hope and we will take back our India.”

Hundreds of students belonging to different universities like University of Delhi (DU), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) and other student organizations joined together to raise slogans of Azadi against the undemocratic and unsecular rule of the Government and against CAA-NRC-NPR.

They chanted slogans of “Inquilab Zindabad” (long live the revolution), “BJP hoshiyaar” (stay alert BJP), “Secularism Up-Up, Communalism Down-Down”, and sang popular songs improvised to create tunes of resistance. 

N Sai Balaji, National President, AISA, said, “Young India is one such powerful platform which not only unites all students and youth but today has shown that they won’t get divided by hate. But have unitedly launched a campaign to defend citizenship and defend the Constitution.” 

These protests are being held simultaneously in cities like  Mallapuram, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Patna, Kolkata, Allahabad, Varanasi, and many others against CAA-NRC-NPR.

“Just after two days the Supreme Court is going to hear the petitions challenging CAA so by this rally and across the country we are trying to give this message that this march means a public declaration, that this public is not in support of CAA, specifically the students, the young people of this country. We are against this CAA. We are born in a secular and country and will not let them (the Government) destroy the secular fabric of this country. India cannot accept secularism on religious lines,” quoted Kawalpreet Kaur, Delhi President, AISA.

The rally was followed by talks addressed by prominent speakers such as Harsh Mander, Umar Khalid, Gauhar Raza and Professor Ratan Lal among others at Jantar Mantar.

Umar Khalid, popular youth Social Activist and former student of Jawaharlal Nehru University, told DU Beat, “Young India today wants jobs and education. It does not want divisive laws like CAA or NRC or NPR. When we demand education, what does the government tell us? That spending on education is a waste of taxpayer’s money. But our money is not gonna be spent on putting us through an exercise in which we will be forced to prove our citizenships. They are using our money to strip us of our rights and we cannot allow that to happen. The government does not have that right. The government is here to serve us, not lord over us. Citizens also have rights. We are demanding those rights-  right to education, right to employment, right to healthcare.”

Dipankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary Communist Party of Indi (ML), suggested that the country is fighting it’s second freedom struggle.

“This law has been brought to divide people based on their religion and if we allow them to do this, tomorrow it will lead to caste discrimination.” he further added.

Feature Image Credits: Gyanarjun Saroj for DU Beat

Aditi Gutgutia

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Government Targets the Educated First

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Universities, the breeding ground of education and ideals, echo today with chants of Azadi, and Faiz’s Hum Dekhenge. They think we’ll let go and surrender. However, they don’t know that our resistance is stronger than their hatred.

 
As another year goes by, the ‘one who must not be named’ reigns back to power and, yet again, the country erupts in massive dissent in one of the ways propagated by the moderate protests. While more universities get labelled as ‘anti-national’ by the followers of the ‘party that must not be named’, I am reminded of Satyajit Ray’s Hirak Rajar Deshe (1980); as the protagonist says, “Era joto beshi pore, toto beshi jaane, toto kom mane.” (The more they learn, the more they know, the less they obey).
Nandini Sukhija, a student of Mumbai University, said, “Our political leaders gain power by mobilization of groups, which are usually composed of brainwashed partisans. The intellectuals know better than of all for their cheap and divisive tactics, by which they threaten the Government’s power. It’s not hard to connect the dots and realise why fascist governments will always clamp down the educated and shut down channels of information.”
The well-read are rational critics whereas the ideologists are the irrational ones. Targeting universities, the educated, scholars, and writers, is an age-old gameplay to curb the anti- establishment voices, to curb nothing but dissent and voice.

Forcing the well- read to obey the regressive actions coerced on the vulnerable sections of the society is a task of great objection. The very reason why their voices are silenced is that the establishment is aware that they are wrong, they know that they’d fail if the truth prevailed, if the educated people’s voice reverberated.

The youth is the ‘future’ of India, long ahead after the remains of the politicians have vanished into thin air, their remnants left as a by-product of hate, fear and, fascism, the youth will still exist.

History is evidential of the exemplary contribution and corrupt silence that students are bestowed upon by fascist governments. When the ones to oppose, the ones to criticise cease to exist, their propagation, their ideology, their reign thrives. Democracy without opposition is no democracy at all. Arresting the well-read and labelling them as urban Naxalites is a reminder of the very failure of democracy.
Central universities ordering students to not protest, charging them of disciplinary action to prevent dissent or questioning the Government, Is everyone an accomplice here?

“Educational institutions are the hotspots of awareness. Silencing educational institutions to gain peace is like burning the Amazon and then expecting the earth to be ecologically sound. The consequences will only intensify. “Finger on your lips is not something appealing to the youth,
neither is it going to stay for too long,” Priyanshi Banerjee, a student of Lady Shri Ram College rightfully explains.
If we go down the pages of history, Nazi Germany right before World War II reminds us of eerily similar circumstances. Sonderaktion Krakau, a German terror operation against academics at Jagiellonian University performed in order to eradicate the Polish intellectual elites.

Along with this, Frankfurt University was the first university targeted by Nazis for their liberal, exuberant academic record, scholarships, international faculty, and uphold of democratic values and ideals.
The times we live in are scary, they attack unarmed students, name-call academicians, murder journalists, hush down voices, curb protests. Where is dissent? Where did the safety valve of democracy go?
All revolutions, all rebellions, nationalist movements, demand for rights, protests, agitations, all starts from the students; the very foundation of a stable country. The recent attacks on students at various universities are nothing but an act of cowardice in the world’s largest democracy; the very country which once upheld the ideals of secularism, democracy, justice, liberty, and equality.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

Anandi Sen 

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I Am Offended: Sail Through the Censorship Debate

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Both, Censorship and the Freedom of Speech require a delicate balance and immense intuitiveness. Many have argued on both sides, This piece aims to highlight what ideas stand out in this debate? 

Censorship refers to moderating the information and ideas that are disseminated in the society. After entering the web of the censorship debate, there is no escape. This fascinating, unsolvable mystery has questions that lead to more questions, gently treading the path between morality and legality. Everyone’s subjective notions of what is moral, acceptable, decent, and inoffensive are at interplay.

Now a question that would make Mr Pahlaj Nihalanijump onto his toes: Is censorship a good thing?

An infamous opinion piece, in the New York Times, ‘Free Speech Is Killing Us’, addressed the issue of noxious speech. Rebutting the idea of the Internet as a beacon of progress, it reminded the readers of the social media driven campaigns of Trumpand Duterte, the murder of Heather Heyer, the massacres in Pittsburg and Christchurch. “But what about speech that’s designed to drive a woman out of her workplace or to bully a teenage into suicide or to drive a democracy towards totalitarianism?” writer, Andrew Marantz, probed his readers.

Moving away from this, on another end of this spectrum there are moral policing and unnecessary restrictions being imposed. Banning of films representing the LGBTQ community, deletion of Twitters posts talking about casteism, unnecessary edits on several films by the former Chief of Sankar Board and being tagged as ‘anti-national’ for expressing dissent.

What such pieces necessitate are a need to draw lines around some content on the internet. But how easy is this task? Youtube’s ban on violent content resulted in reportage of the Syrian war being take down, Twitter’s rules about sexual content led to information on sexual health also being removed. Regulations can, therefore, close doors on several avenues to spread awareness.

A move criticised for its timing right before the General Elections, stricter social media regulations were put in place. The authorities claimed this was done to curb misinformation. This would require content deemed as “unlawful” by government will have to be erased from Facebook, Google, TikTokand other platforms. WhatsAppwill be required to decrypt encrypted data, to trace it to its original sender. Netflix, Hotstarand seven other platforms have begun self-regulation in attempts to avoid censorship. This played in favour of, our favourite mota bhai, Mr Mukesh Ambani, for obvious reasons.

Stringent censorship can be found in countries like China, Saudi Arabia and Russia. With more than 150 days of internet shutdown in Kashmir, how long before we enter the list?

Journalism, as an independent and impartial body, is not meant to serve the establishment. Its duty is to question, educate and be the voice of people. It was not birthed to be controlled. A democracy seizes to exist when its journalists, activists and reporters begin to live in fear. The ABP row and stepping down of two leading journalists demonstrated the heights of control over the press. The gruesome violence at the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo was also a dark day in the history of the press.

Free speech is an inextricable part and the cornerstone of a democracy. Dissent cannot be suppressed under the garb of censorship, because with changing times, the youth refuses to settle and rather demands what’s better. The New York Times piece warns against absolutism and how it cannot be used as an opt out from harassment. It is a right to be exercised with full responsibility. Use of force cannot be a medium to extinguish protests and silence voices of people.

Going back to the dilemma we started with, one’s morality emerges from their upbringing, culture, values, and education. The same rules cannot hold true for all, which makes censorship an endless debate. While morality is where we use our discretion, the higher authorities have the onus of the legalities of it.

Feature Image Credits: Debate.Org

Shivani Dadhwal

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Editorial: Fighting the Thought Police: Social Media and Dissent

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These are powerful times. These are politically volatile times. These are disappointing times. These are resisting times. Most important of all, these are questioning and questionable times.

With the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) being protested against vehemently in the North-East and across the rest of the country, including the popular hubs of politics and entertainment – Delhi and Mumbai – respectively, the citizens of the country are awakening to the anti-people policies of the current administration, including (but not limited to) the controversial abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir, the policies to privatize education, the Trans Person’s Bill, and the continual curbing of dissent by arresting protesting activists. As I write this, the Farmers’ Leader, Akhil Gogoi, is being charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act – a move that has invited widespread criticism for its arbitrary and oppressive nature.

In a backdrop such as this, it is impossible to go about one’s life – especially as students who study Foucault, Orwell, Ambedkar, and Marx in the classrooms of one of the premier universities of the country – without being the least bit affected with the socio-political climate of the country. The slogan, “Personal is political” manifests itself  powerfully before us, now more than ever, since the majority of us who are on any social networking platforms like Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, among many others, cannot possibly scroll through the feeds nonchalantly, without coming across stories, posts, or articles on the current climate. What, then, becomes of social media activism?

I confess that I myself, in the past, have sneered at ‘social media influencers’ and the like, believing that the social and cultural capital enjoyed by them, by virtue of their popularity, was taking up unfair space in the powerful discourse of ground-level activism. However, the past few months have altered this perspective drastically, because social media has now seemingly emerged as the preferred space of discourse for many, includingsystematically disenfranchised communities like trans-people, women, and people from conservative households. When paramilitary troops and police forces are employed in the ratio of three is to one, at organised protests in India Gate, Jantar Mantar, and brutalise the students of Jamia (JMI), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), among other locations, then being on-ground becomes a life and death battle for many from the aforementioned communities.

Social media, then, serves as the forum to express dissent, become informed, and share awareness. This is not to say that the women at Shaheen Bagh, sitting in the chilling winter of Delhi for about a month now, are not palpable to a violent crackdown, or that the resistance that has engulfed Kashmir for multiple decades is on equal footing with sharing a tweet, but it is to acknowledge the newfound power that is threatening the authorities in control. Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) IT cell has been notoriously in the news for circulating numbers, advertising that calling said numbers would get the people “free subscription to Netflix” or rendezvous with porn-stars. Doctored photos of students holding placards like “Hinduo ki kabrkhudegi” instead of the original “Hindutva ki kabra khudegi,” were instantly circulated in social media pages, attempting to polarize communal sentiments against students at JMI and AMU. In no time after actress Deepika Padukone stood behind JNU Students’ Union President, Aishe Ghosh, and activist Kanahiya Kumar, that the hashtag “BoycottChhapak” was trending on social media and sexually profanity being hurled at her. Internet lockdown in Kashmir has continued for over 150 days now, while internet services in numerous states like Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Assam, and Gujarat were blocked. Instances like this are testimony to the fact that any platform of public dissent, especially a technologically savvy one like social media that people from older generations in the administration are largely unable to grasp or master, acts to counter the narrative of normalcy our Prime Minister has been propagating with his famous line – “Sab changa si!” A single tweet on the everyday violence in the country is indeed momentous enough to throttle this false narrative.

While the criticism against social media has always been the legitimacy of the sources and the accountability of any debates/discussions over it, private citizens like Mitali Bhasin, Sukhnidh Kaur, Pravan Sawhney, Divya Kandukuri, are some of the few names who have set precedent for researching their own resources for news and compiling information for public use in these tumultuous times. Pages like With Kashmir, and media houses like The Wire, The Print, Quint have proven to be reliable sources of information and discourses, publicized and accessible through social media platforms.

The language barrier parting English, Hindi, and other regional languages in India has always been a drawback for left liberal discourse in India, and the dearth of similar resources / activism in languages apart from English, including in Hindi, remains a blind-spot that needs correction in an era where the voting public, from Savarna households, including in our family WhatsApp groups is unaware of the manipulation and propaganda being targeted towards them, because of language or technological gaps that disengage their participation in social media activism. However, as millennials and post-millennials, it is our prerogative to engage in sharing the information that reaches us, creating the much-needed space for dissent amid the hoardings of propaganda.

Most important of all, it is time that to take heed of all the tools at our disposal in fighting violence sponsored by the State. It is time to change those display pictures to red, to make highlights on Instagram with curated information, to tweet and flood the judiciary, the Police, and the ministries, because when we fight fascism in Orwellian times like these, it becomes poignant to break free, in any and all ways possible, from what 1984 labelled the Thought Police.

Anushree Joshi

[email protected]

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