Students in Delhi University who peacefully were protesting for 28 days, are now attacked by the Delhi police with sticks and arrests.
Nature of the Demand by DU Students
Ashish Lamba, Secretary of the DUSU and a member of the NSUI had written to the Vice-Chancellor of the varsity, Yogesh Singh, reasoning that he had received grievances from various students with regards to the offline exams. With the bulk of the classes for the semester happening online, the letter said that the offline exams were burdening the students of Delhi University.
Also, the shift to Delhi after the campus reopened also caused some students to miss their offline classes. He also went on to say that students of the science stream had missed the practical experience of a major chunk of the concepts, that were taught online. And then there was also the case of foreign students, who wouldn’t be able to make it to the university due to visa issues.
The letter demanded a mixture or combined model of exams for such students. To add to that, there is another faction of DU students who are still fighting for a complete shift to OBE for exams this semester.
The Congress-affiliated National Student Union of India (NSUI) had originally vigorously opposed the upcoming in-person exams, the BJP-affiliated ABVP had not issued a ‘for’ or ‘against’ statement with regard to the pen-and-paper exams. The NSUI also rested their agitations after the statement by the DU on April 1. Communist Party of India (Marxist)-affiliated Students’ Federation of India Delhi President Sumit Kataria said, “No left-affiliated students’ outfit is supporting this demand for OBE.”
Police Attack on Campus
The students have who lost 2 years of their life to COVID were on campus, on a peaceful protest demanding the Delhi University portal for the open book exam along with their other requests when the Delhi police barged into the campus and started beating them up with sticks and arresting them.
The Delhi police attack on the students of Delhi University is highly condemnable and certainly not a way to deal with a peaceful protest. Such draconian measures are threats to democracy and also devalue and demotivate students.
While the students need to be given a 2 year age respite in all government competitive exams like UPSC, SSC, Railway, and the Army after the pandemic, the government has hardened its stance and not adhering to their requests and instead levying heavy attacks and arrests.
DU OBE की मांग करने पर दिल्ली विश्वविद्यालय के छात्रों पर दिल्ली पुलिस का हमला, केंपस के अंदर घुसकर पुलिस छात्रों को मार रही है और गिरफ्तार कर रही है।#DUWantOBE #SOLWantOBE #HybridModeShouldBeAChoice#HybridModeExamDU2022 #DelhiUniversity pic.twitter.com/tqJFFMMmee
— Shankar Kumar | شنکر کمار | शंकर कुमार (@ShankarKumar_) April 4, 2022
About Delhi University
The Delhi University was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) by the University Grants Commission (UGC). As a collegiate university, its main functions are divided between the academic departments of the university and constituent colleges.
It has three colleges, two faculties, and 750 students at its founding, the University of Delhi has since become India’s largest institution of higher learning and among the largest in the world. The university has 16 faculties and 86 departments distributed across its North and South campuses. It has 77 constituent colleges and five other institutes. The Vice President of India serves as the university chancellor.
You might also want to read https://hamslivenews.com/2022/03/24/former-jnu-student-leader-umar-khalid-denied-bail-in-delhi-riots-case/