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Dear Freshers, This is Your Reality Check on DU Societies         

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With the rosy season of auditions going on, this is an introduction for freshers to the dark side of DU Societies.  

As the audition season approaches, one could have seen the college areas buzzing with auditions. On the online campus, it’s a bit different; the society’s social media pages, which have been abandoned for long, now become the main agenda of society meetings. All of a sudden, reels are being posted, and you see clips of happy members of societies playing along, some on screens while some on the ground, and a Ritviz song playing in the background. The usual words that will be used in these videos are “family”, “creative community” and every adjective you can imagine for a bunch of happy undergrads. But are societies really this happy, or is it just the poster happiness to lure in freshers?

(Obviously, not all societies fall into this category, the main aim is to introduce freshers to the toxic side of DU societies.) A lot of societies are run by seniors who exercise control over all the functioning. At some colleges, administration or the teacher or convenor intervene, but at some, they don’t pay any heed. Some societies have also faced such extreme obstruction of administration that even their performances have been canceled, whereas the bullying by many societies goes unchecked due to no surveillance. (Societies should ideally lie between this tussle of control, where admin maintains minimum control but a required check, but hey, we are in DU!)

A hierarchy is maintained among all the members to maintain ‘discipline’. But this setup often leads to toxicity as seniors in positions of responsibility take undue advantage of their power. The societies that should act as communities housing creative talent become a powerhouse of trashy politics and toxicity, where bullying and ragging houses.

Recently, such a situation came to light during the auditions of Finance Investment Cell of Hansraj College, about which a first-year student said,

During our Finance Investment Cell interviews, the core team members made us dance against our will, I felt uncomfortable but since I wanted to get into the soc, I had to go with the flow. Later on, they were boasting about the fact that they made us do squats, dance, and sing in the interviews during our induction meeting.” 

First Years who are already ridden with anxiety get pushed underneath the wish of being in the cool circles of college and fail to report such behaviors, and the cycle of toxicity continues. Another student from a dance society shared their experience in a conversation with DU Beat.

This certain level of hierarchy restricts our freedom as an artist and as a person. The role of unions should be to represent the members of the society and to guide us, but it feels like someone has given them authority and they just want to show it off.”

Even in the online mode, several students have suffered terrible things at the hands of societies. With the second batch moving into the online campus, we need to configure our thinking accordingly. If the cultural front of the university keeps on reeking privilege and toxicity, the development of the individual would be a far-gone concept here. It’s high time proper redressal forums (talking about Cultural Secretaries) work in every college to respond to all grievances and dismantle these toxic hierarchies.

[email protected]

Kashish Shivani

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Arts & Culture

Diversity out of the Question of Languages

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Following the recent events, we tried to locate what language our nation speaks—of hate or of Mir?

“I knew that language is the most private and yet most public things.” – Arundhati Roy, In What Language Does Rain Fall Over Tormented Cities?

What language do we speak altogether, collectively as a nation? 780, or the ones actually recognised? Of love or of hate? Do we even speak together, ever?

I learned in my history class about imagined communities. Are we just one true imagination that exists with all its hypocrisies with just one name that binds us together? The peculiar curiosity about your identity starts somewhere around our age only, I think India never got out of that phase, she is still trudging the path of curiosity to know all about it.

Being trilingual, I get how difficult it can be to brainstorm with three words meaning something somewhat similar but never the exact same. How does India manage with so many? We read about diversity since first grade. In the language, I read it, “Anekta mei ekta.” At times, I think her diversity could never get out of this essay. It tried and tried, but it was such a high pedestal that returning was never an option, but we found out her invisibility on the streets at times, for we all read or maybe heard it – India: A Land of Diversities.

But whose language does India actually speak? Of Ghalib or of those who went rallying against Fab India when it named its Diwali Collection Jashn-e-Riwaaz, which loosely translates into a celebration of tradition.

The social media went mad with hails of ‘NO Abrahaminsation of Hindu Festivals’. And amidst this, a Markazi Khayal came to me that what word could we substitute for Khyal in Kabhi Kabhi mere dil mei Khayal aata hai? Or maybe what would we substitute when the people actually discover that the words Hindi, Hindu and Hindostan are from Persian Arabic? Did I miss a class of Language partition when the words of Urdu casually entered the conversations and even a bit of Shudh Hindi found its place with slang from the local dialect?

The Partition happened when, during the British era, the Hindustani language broke up into Hindi and Urdu, and since then, the graph has been up and down with the ‘language’ that we decide to speak publicly, sometimes of hate and sometimes of mir.

According to a research paper about the decline of Urdu sounds,

First, the decline of Urdu sounds began in the 1990s, which marks the rise of the Hindutva politics and the beginning of the mushrooming of cable television networks.”

So, this is the language I have been referring to the language that the current hegemony chooses to speak.

A good thing about Grammarly is that you can set the tone of language that you want to deliver your content in, and it rectifies the words accordingly. What would the tone be when people don’t let Munawwar Faruqui perform in Goa for 500 people would set themselves on fire. The organisers received threats from several Hindutva groups, and shows in Raipur, Surat, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Mumbai had to be cancelled. Munawwar was also arrested for a joke he did not tell, and the apex court that granted him release said the tone of the FIR was vague and no apparent reason for his arrest.

Clearly, the cancel culture in our country goes a different way, where the dominant group shuns the language that it does not want to hear, be it just the name of the collection, an advertisement that talks of love bonds, or anything that might prick the forces of Hindutva. Who will be the next Kaifi saheb, perhaps Ghalib or the true sense of diversity that we talked about on pages?

Although Hindi’s victory has been a resounding one, it does not seem to have entirely allayed its keepers’ anxieties. Perhaps that’s because their enemies are dead poets who have a habit of refusing to really die.” – Arundhati Roy, In What Language Does Rain Fall Over Tormented Cities? 

There is a linguistic relativity hypothesis that says our language shapes our thought, and Arundhati writes in her essay that a country’s public language is its own public imagination. So, the next time you say ‘ye Ishq nahīñ āsāñ itnā hī samajh liije ik aag kā dariyā hai aur Duub ke jaanā hai’ know that in the current context it literally applies to the word Ishq for someday people might take offence for its existence because of its source.

All this is to say that we in India live and work (and write) in a complicated land, in which nothing is or ever will be settled. Especially not the question of language. Languages.” – Arundhati Roy, In What Language Does Rain Fall Over Tormented Cities? 

Kashish Shivani

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Coronavirus

SFI Demands Student Financial Support during COVID-19

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The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) released a statement about the need for financial support for students facing problems during the COVID-19 pandemic and released a set of demands regarding the same.

In a statement dated for 17th April 2020, SFI released a press comment regarding the triangular problems being faced by students during the Coronavirus lockdown and urged the government to provide financial support for the same.

The SFI condemned the BJP-led government’s abrupt announcement of the lockdown without any prior notification for the students to prepare for the situation. They commented that though necessary, the statement for a lockdown came upon every citizen “like a bomb”, and though the lockdown is set for 3rd May, it is likely to extend further.

“The wage labourers and unorganised sector workers who live from hand to mouth are the ones who are facing the worst repercussions of the lockdown. But the brunt of the lockdown is felt by all sections of the population, and by all industries. While a huge portion of the Indian population is facing dire livelihood issues, with the unemployment rate touching a 1/4th of the population, it is futile to expect families to support their children in schools, colleges and universities. many families can’t afford it. If this is left unchecked, it could lead to a great increase in drop-out rates.

Many students are stranded in universities and college in various cities across the country in hostels. They are stranded not only because we were all told to remain where we were and not travel, but also because the lockdown announcement gave no time for students (or anyone) to make preparatory decisions. The government had demanded the students to remain as they are, thereby we demand the government to provide financial assistance to these students. Moreover, students are from disparate economic backgrounds and given the present economic condition, to expect their families to financially support these students is irresponsible”, as stated by SFI’s Delhi State Committee.

SFI has, as a result, released a set of demands for the government to help the students being affected by this pandemic. These include:

  • Provision of a minimum amount of sum to students’ bank accounts
  • Disbursing Fellowships/Scholarships and Grants for Bachelors to PhD
  • Waiving college fee of two months
  • No hostel fee to be charged during the lockdown
  • Government to pay the rent for students staying on rent
  • Necessary steps to be taken to ensure that students’ basic needs are met.

Feature Image Credits: The Sentinel

Shreya Juyal

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DUB Speak

We, the People of India: Internalising Violence

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We, the people of India, may have grown up with school debates that argue in favour of India being a “soft State”. However, the delusional bubble can only carry so far as the world around you, as you know it, is crumbling and, to paraphrase Rick Blaine’s line from Casablanca – our delusions of peace don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.

India, as a society, is violent and not mild about it. From the practice of female foeticide, dowry murders, and caste violence to the silencing of journalists (fifth-worst as per Reuters, circa 2015), danger posed to women (Reuters, The
Guardian, CNN reported India as the most dangerous country for women in 2018), and our educational model with its suicide stories of frustrated and frightened youth – we have internalised this violence as a part of the Indian
routine alongside “chai-paani”. Then, over a week ago, a CCTV footage surfaced from Jamia Millia Islamia, which would be enough to shake the ideological core of the people of a society not so blindly in love with violence and mob justice, as the Singham, Simmba, and whatever Rohit Shetty’s making next-applauding masses are.

The footage from the University’s library showed policemen entering with lathis, charging at students who appeared to have been inside in their booths. The violence in the video is triggering as the youth holds its hands above its head to avoid injuries. The footage comes in, post the denial of the Home Minister and the Delhi Police regarding thelatter ever having entered the library on 15th December 2019. Media outlets like Republic TV, Times Now,etc. claimed to have found the “unedited” version of the footage, showing the students entering the library with stones, suggesting that the actions of the CRPF were provoked.

Alt News later fact-checked the authenticity of the footage and revealed that what had been propagated as a stone in the hands of a student was a wallet. The damage, however, to the collective conscience and moral psyche of India was done and dusted with, at that point. When Instagram pages like Indian Military Updates post captions that state “Condemn The Violent Actions of CRPF Bcoz (Because) They Were Not Violent Enough”, we need to analyse our problematic romance with violence.

Anurag Thakur and the like of his breed of politicians can get away with cries that lead to violent action, in the faces of the Jamia and Shaheen Bagh shooters, not because the judiciary or the State are being undemocratic, but because they are seemingly catering to the bloodlust of the masses. Family WhatsApp groups and dinner-table conversations should be one’s doorway to the horrifying glorification of the acts of the police. Lived experiences of the people, their dissent, a need to question – these become secondary in middle- class Indian households, to the need to dictate and control the narrative, even if it defies any semblance of fact.

Middle-aged people alike have justified the violence in the footage, believing that the acceptable realm of universities and for students is text-book education, employment, and not the acceptably dirty business that is politics. They fail to see the first two as inseparably linked with the course of political developments, blinding themselves conveniently to the ideals of the very Independence struggle that allows this nationalistic fervour but was carried on the martyred backs of young college students.
Like or dislike for student politics aside, what the attitude towards the Jamia violence shows is not just social tendency to dismiss our youth as misguided when they do anything but obey, but it is also reflective of a deeply problematic ideological acceptance and internalisation of Althusser’s repressive state apparatus. What this country needs to ask itself is not whether the students had stones or any other fictional weapon, but whether the Police has a
right to unleash that kind of barbaric violence. Or worse, when they think the State’s people condone the violence that contains and kills dissent.

Anushree Joshi
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Campus Central

DUSU President Denies Claims of Being Involved in Violence

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On December 16, 2019, Akshit Dahiya, President of the Delhi University’s Student Union (DUSU) was captured on a video escorting a student outside which later resulted in violence, the student along with All India Student Association(AISA) claims that the student was beaten up. However, Akshit Dahiya denies all claims.

At 9 pm, Kawalpreet Kaur, National President of the All India Student Association (AISA), posted a video allegedly claiming that a student was beaten up by the DUSU President for protesting peacefully at the Social Sciences Department in presence of the Delhi Police. The video even featured female students trying to save the beaten student from the President as well as the police.

Kawalpreet Kaur wrote, “Remove Akshit Dahiya From #DUSU President! Not our President! This is yesterday video of Delhi University. MA. Philosophy student can be seen beaten up clearly by ABVP led DUSU President Akshit Dahiya and Ankita Biswas, Sonal (these girls pulling his hair) Indejeet Dagar and Bharat Sharma. All of them members of ABVP can be clearly seen in the video. What was the fault of this common student? That he took part in his university protest against #CitizenshipAct. That he stood up with the constitutional values of this country.”

Attached below is the video discussed in the context:

On December 16, students from the Social Science Department organised a protest in terms of examination boycott to show solidarity to the students of Jamia Millia Islamia who had faced a brutal police attack from the police a day before.

The protest was put on halt after the students were allegedly lathi-charged by ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) goons called by the Delhi Police. However, the ABVP denied all of the claims stating that the students along with Leftist parties were trying to persuade and prevent other students from giving their examinations, and the students called the ABVP for help.

The above-mentioned video was shot on the same day and it was said by the victim as well as the AISA that the DUSU President used his power to beat up the students for peacefully protesting. The video features, Merin C. Rapheal, M.A. Philosophy, 1st year from the Department of Philosophy, being the victim of violence.

He said “I was physically assaulted and mentally harassed near the statue of Swami Vivekananda on the Arts Faculty campus as I was returning from the protest. I am extremely disappointed as I got to know later that you were present in the mob that attacked me. As my President in the student body, I expect in earnest and urge you in good faith to restore the decorum of an academic space and re-build the lost trust among the student community at large.”

In contrast, Akshit Dahiya, DUSU President, in conversation with DU Beat, presented his side and a different story, denying all violence claims.

He said, “How this video is being circulated is the false narrative. I was actually supporting the students, I even told them that I will stay with them on the ground as long as they are protesting even when some of the students were not from DU. In the video, I’m actually escorting this student outside who was provoking students to turn the peaceful protest violent. I’m one of the only DUSU president who has gone on ground zero to help them express their right to dissent.”

 

Feature Image Credits: ABVP

Chhavi Bahmba

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Arts & Culture

Time-tested Tricks to Ace Your Writing Skills

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As the old saying goes, ‘A pen is mightier than a sword’, in today’s time, writing and expressing oneself clearly is an important skill one must have a good grasp of. Thus, here are some tricks and techniques for better writing skills.

Keeping these small but significant pointers in mind will help one present their writing in a clear and concise manner, with effective communication taking place.

  1. KISS

(Keep it Short and Simple)

This golden rule works wonders when it comes to writing. Short sentences grab the reader’s attention. They don’t bore them and allow the message to be understood easily. It also gives an illusion of a short write-up thereby not making the readers bored to death while they read a piece.

  1. 5W1H

What, Where, Who, When, Why and How

Keep these questions in mind and your writing will become one with the maximum information without beating around the bush. Answer and address all the questions precisely to have a piece that conveys all information without unnecessary details.

  1. Use of Simple Vocabulary

While writing a piece it is important to understand that your work is understood by all. Hence, use plain and simple language while you construct your sentences. Not only will it make the piece easy to read, but also provide a good speed to the readers while they go through your work.

  1. Less is More

Convey more meaning in less words. Make the right use of synonyms, antonyms and idioms. Choosing words and phrases wisely will not add value to your writing but also make it an interesting read.

  1. Read Out Loud

Reading out a piece before submission is always a helpful and a handy trick. It helps one see if the sentences are framed correctly and make sense.

  1. Ask for Reviews!

Make someone whom you trust- a senior, a friend or a mentor go through your piece. An honest review from peers and people who surround you serves as a great feedback channel for improving upon ones’ work and writing skills.

  1. Read!

Read. Read. Read.

Be it newspapers, magazines or even fiction books. Reading from a variety of genres exposes a person to various techniques of writing and helps in picking up and identifying which techniques are helpful when it comes to incorporating them in one’s writing skills.

  1. Write!

All of these above-mentioned practices become futile if one does not put them into action. Writing skills are like a muscle; the more you practice, the stronger your grip gets in it! So, explore various kinds of writings. Be it a long form essay, journalling or even story-writing.

The more you write, the better you become with the skill.

These are some of the techniques which when taken into practice ardently, will surely make your work emerge as one which everyone appreciates for its readability, flow and presentation of thoughts.

So what are you waiting for? Write your heart out! Get up, get going!

 

Feature Image Credits: Scopio

Amrashree Mishra

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Arts & Culture

Productive Activities for a Better Self

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With the vacations upon us, here’s a piece on how you can make them more productive, not only for your own development but for enriching the lives of others!

Here is a list of activities you can do in these holidays, for a healthier and happier self!

  1. Join NGOs

NGOs are great places for development and introspection of oneself. They make you realise your privilege and the kind places you come from with the best of all facilities. NGOs make your heart melt and become a person more empathetic towards the society. So this winter break, spend some time to give back to the community. Be it any NGO right from animal rescue to taking care of senior citizens. Make this break worth the while.

  1. Volunteer!

As exciting as it sounds, volunteering for events is a very learning process. Not only it shapes a person but also helps in developing the various parts of their personality they never knew they had to themselves. Right from organisational skills to event management, volunteering is a great exercise to get in to.

  1. Teach Children

There is no greater joy than the one you receive after you see education opening up the hearts of the people around you, especially the children when you see the twinkle in their eyes. Go out, bring the season’s cheers upon the hearts of the underprivileged kids you see in your neighbourhood. You don’t have to teach them everyday, but keep teaching them something or the other frequently; that keeps them hopeful and restores their faith of kindness still existing in the world.

  1. Take Care of the Stray Animals

Tiniest actions such as feeding them biscuits in this harsh winter will give them the love they seek outside. Go a good deed by acknowledging their existence and bring warmth to your heart and of the furballs you spot in your neighbourhood!

  1. Organise Cleanliness Drives

For a cleaner, safer and healthier future, it is important that we start taking actions from today itself. Work for the mission of a cleaner India by organising small cleanliness drives in your place. Get along with your friends in a group and educate people, because at the end of the day, alone we are so little, together, we can do so much.

  1. Stay Fit!

Participate in the various marathons, and do not forget to exercise regularly (even though the idea brings the chills!) for it’s important to stay fit.

Continuing these activities will surely result in a healthy college life and personal life balance. So, aim for ending this year positively, will all the good deeds backing you up for a brighter and beautiful year ahead!

 

Feature Image Credits: Scopio

Amrashree Mishra

[email protected]

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Campus Central

Identifying the Red Flags of the Examination Season

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With the examination season around, it becomes important to study well and prioritise one’s actions and acitivities. Here is a piece on how one can identify and circle down things that take away most of the time in unproductive sessions without making one realise it.

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1. Netflix and Chill (?)
Just one episode more! This has led to getting caught in an endless cycle of shows and series. Utilise your time wisely this exam season and just hold on to the urge to watch the series a little later. It is an altogether different joy to experience when one watches shows without the pending loom of having to study for exams!

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2. Partners
In the garb of productivity we end up wasting a lot of time by talking to our significant others over social media, in the garb of the ‘one WhatsApp message’ or over the video call with the context of studying together but that is a far call from reality. At the end of the day, one needs some ‘me’ time to for a productive study session. So it’s just a matter of little time. Keep that urge to message or call away just for a little while!

 

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3. Parties
It’s time to reverse the motto of ‘Study Hard, Party Harder’. During the exam season at times, one may find the urge to attend parties after long and tiring sessions of studying. At times it may even feel justified but in the heart of hearts, the realisation does upon that this is not an ideal practice to fall into during the exams. This leads to an endless cycle of partying late, coming home even later and ending up causing a disruptive timetable during this crucial time.

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4. The ‘tapri-time’
It seems almost logical and justifiable to go out with our friends and chill over at the Tapri. With the cold winters, a warm cup of tea doesn’t seem a bad option either. However, that tapri trip can turn into a trap and lead to endless hours of unproductivity. It’s important to utilise time wisely and prioritise things during the exam session. The trip can wait, your exams cannot!

 

Thus, this exam season, let us imbibe ‘delayed gratification’ as the tool to ace the exam season!
Feature Image Credits: Noihrit Gogoi for DU Beat
Image Credits: Noihrit Gogoi and Vaibhav Tekchandani for DU Beat

Amrashree Mishra
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Vaibhav Tekchandani
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Campus Central

The Delayed Construction of South Campus Roads

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Four years and five deadlines later, the underpass connecting Benito Juarez Road with San Martin Road in front of Sri Venkateswara College is only half complete. The project, which is a part of the Rao Tula Ram Marg Redevelopment Project recently missed its 6th deadline of completion in June 2019 causing much trouble to roads of South Campus. 

When one visits Sri Venkateswara College or Satya Niketan, a sight to behold is the unfinished construction site which is surrounded by gutter streams all around. That is the three-lane underpass, being constructed by the Public Works Department (PWD), which has been delayed for more than 5 deadlines. It has been said to be delayed due to lack of utilities, shift slot issues and the complex nature of project.

A senior PWD official on condition of anonymity said, “It will take another eight to nine months to complete. The delay is due to shifting railway’s power cables, telephone lines and other utilities. The work related to shifting of utilities on BJ Road and SM Road has been completed, while the utilities at Ring Road are yet to be shifted.”

The construction has been a menace for long, it acts as an incubator for health hazards as well as take away from the beauty of the place.

The dual access one-way underpass construction begins near Springdales School on Benito Juarez Road and is said to pass under the South Campus Metro Station on the Ring Road. One arm of the underpass is said to go to San Martin Road while another will open on Ring Road towards Moti Bagh.

Being near one of the most prominent metro station for DU south campus students, The Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus metro station, the sore construction site is something which all people are witnesses to.

The delay in the construction has left the entire place stinking and has even hampered the travel on the roads. Due to the construction in process, the roads have been long broken and aren’t even close to getting repaired. It causes a huge traffic problem, as already the streets of Satya Niketan are very narrow with the construction they have been reduced much more on its main entrance which doesn’t allow cars to enter.

Each season there’s a new trouble. In the rainy season, there is collection stagnant water which leads to the breeding and provides a mating ground for many flies, mosquitoes and insects causing diseases. In winds of winters, the dust accumulated there causes dust winds that harms the health of the students.

Tarsh Verma, student of Sri Venkateswara college said, “Its so hazardous to be around this construction because of the broken roads, the enormous amount of mosquitoes and huge water puddles. It has also divided the road from the center making it very inconvenient.”

What’s worse is that this construction will be extended to the Ring Road which is one of the busiest roads in Delhi. The delayed construction will lead to deferred traffic and will be highly inconvenient. Other than traffic, hygiene and convenience issue the construction is also harmful financially.

The underpass was estimated to cost INR 102 crores. Constant delays have escalated the expenditure and have added an extra amount of INR 42 crores to the project.

S. Velmurugan, senior principal scientist, traffic engineering and safety division, Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), said, “Most of the important projects such as construction of flyover parallel to RTR flyover on the Outer Ring Road and phase-3 of Barapullah elevated corridor are running years behind their deadlines. Such important projects should be completed on time and the responsibilities of the authorities should be fixed.”

The proximity of the construction with the colleges and the metro station should motivate the authorities to complete it as soon as possible.

 

Feature Image Credits: Aakarsh Gupta for DU Beat

Chhavi Bahmba 

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perosnalities

Leading Back on the Lost Living Lennon

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From Catcher in the Rye to when the world bid bye to their favorite Beatle; through this piece we trace down the assassination and the effect of the death of John Lennon and its impact on people, which could just be sought as something equivalent to the death of Chester Bennington in effect or assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and John F. Kennedy in its intensity.

July 16, 1951; J. D. Sallinger publishes a coming of age novel that captures teenage cynicism and adolescent rush so craftily through its protagonist Holden Caulfield, that he goes on to become an epitome of a great ‘reckless endangerment’. Where Catcher in the Rye continues to be one of the greatest novels of all time, Holden is perhaps the perfect manifestation of mercurial changes of mood, absolute disregard of reality and temporal adolescence. Around thirty years later, on 8th of December 1980 ‘Haldon Caulfield’ recurs again as Mark David Chapman, with his stubborn refusal to admit his own sensitiveness and emotions, this time reading his own story against John Lennon’s body.

December 8, 1980 marks the death of a generation, of a movement, of art and that of John Lennon. A heretic hairy hedonist Lennon, is just another Beatle as Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr but one who outlasted his legacy even after his death thirty nine years ago on this very day.

With an acerbic musical taste and magnanimous presence, John Lennon was a ferocious, politically opinionated peace activist, whose bed-ins for peace and associations with the hippie movement are as significant as his assassination.

December 5 1980, seventy two hours before Lennon would’ve ‘imagined there’s no heaven or hell below us,’ for the last time, he spoke to Rolling Stone editor Jonathan Cott at his apartment on New York’s Upper West Side uttering these words,“Give peace a chance, not shoot people for peace. All we need is love. I believe it.”

What followed next was the assassination plot drafted by Mark Chapman who met Lennon on the evening of December 8. Mark had asked for an autograph by Lennon on a copy of his then latest album Double Fantasy while Lennon was leaving The Dakota with his wife Yoko Ono. They left for a recording session of “Walking on Thin Ice” at the Record Plant Studio. After the session, Lennon and Ono returned to their Manhattan apartment at around 10:50 p.m. EST. On their entrance at the archway of the Dakota, Lennon again encountered Chapman; this time with a Charter Arms Undercover 38 as he shot Lennon four times in the back at close range.

Chapman, 25, once a Beatle fan disavowed Lennon’s lifestyle and detested Lennon’s remarks about ‘The Beatle’s being more popular than Jesus and lyrics of their songs like ‘God’ and ‘Imagine’ was certainly a frenzy fanatic like Nahuram Godse.

Chapman then remained at the murder scene reading Catcher in the Rye until his arrest by the New York Police, the copy of the novel that Chapman carried beared his signature along with words, ‘This is my statement’ and continued to produce this as a defense statement until his 10th Parole rejection in August 2018.

December 22, 1980 American Film Critic John Cock aptly testifies with regard to Lennon’s death ,“The murder was something else. It was an assassination, a ritual slaying of something that could hardly be named Hope, perhaps; or idealism. Or time. Not only lost, but suddenly dislocated, fractured.”

It is interesting to note that on March 30, 1981, four months later John Warnock Hinckley Jr., an American man attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C. again Sallinger’s Catcher in the Rye were one of his few belongings.

 

 

Feature Image Credits: mirror.co.uk

Faizan Salik

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