The All India Students’ Association (AISA) will be holding silent marches in various colleges of Delhi University (DU) on Wednesday against incidents of violence on campus over the past year.
The AISA, as part of its Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) poll campaign, is trying to seek the support of students to ask for a DUSU mandate that ensures a “campus without violence”.
‘Seminars disrupted’
Students from the AISA said that “the entire year witnessed a sharp rise in instances of violence by the ABVP [student organisation affiliated to the RSS] on students and professors, which has unsettled the academic freedom of our campus”.
“There were a number of instances where seminars were disrupted. Academic discussions, and movie screenings were vandalised in the name of nationalism,” the student organisation stated.
The AISA is pleading to students to take a stand against the “threat to the vibrant academic environment of the university”.
‘Serious threat’
Earlier, the AISA had accused the ABVP of becoming the ‘censor board’ of DU and attacking any event that went against its ideology. AISA members alleged that FIRs were lodged in many cases of such violence, but no action has been taken so far.
“With the beginning of the new session, the ABVP has openly declared that it will not allow anyone to organise anything or speak anything. Instances of violence have been reported to administrations of Satyawati College, Motilal Nehru College, Shivaji College and Ramjas College etc. and complaints and FIRs have been filed in most cases. Yet, neither the college administration nor the police is taking the issue seriously,” said the student organisation.
AISA members added that since elections have been notified, a serious threat looms over the well-being of students and the democratic culture of DU.