With the coming elections, the chaos in and around the University of Delhi campus is at an all-time high due to the large-scale propaganda of student organisations. Elections are conducted to ensure students’ welfare. However, the campus continues to face unrelenting violence from several student political organisations.
In order to bring a change in the present scenario, students from the university joined hands to start a silent protest — Campus Without Violence. It is headed by the student political organisation, All India Students Association (AISA). However, non-members who were willing to stand up for also participated. In an attempt to fight non-violently against the atmosphere of the election-driven campus and the alarming atrocities that follow, students conducted this protest on August 30, in all the colleges of the north campus, holding banners, posters and placards that said “DU Without Violence”.
Effecting change
Simultaneously, another protest was carried out on the south campus. The silence of these protesters was successful in conveying the message to the university students. Shreya Kapoor, a final-year mass communication student from IP College, Delhi University, said, “Students should make conscious decisions with full awareness when they go to vote this year. This will help in turning DU into a violence-free university.” Being a victim of undue violence in the university, she emphasised women’s safety and issues such as eve-teasing and sexual harassment.
Kunal Garg, an economics (H) student from Ramjas College, expressed his disappointment when he recalled how he and his friends were beaten up by members of student political organisations despite not being involved in any politics. “Not only are the sparks of this fight affecting common students, but also the faculty who are suffering unreasonable violence for fulfilling their responsibilities,” he said. On being asked about the aim of their campaign, he added, “In a liberal university like DU, we expect humane behaviour and the right to open up discussions without being threatened.”
“We are tagged as anti-national and beaten up. There should be room for discussion and dissent, and the campus should be the campus of the dreams of Ambedkar. A pressure group is required to make student organisations realise that the power given to them by the students cannot be taken as absolute or dictatorship,” said Tanmay Singh from Kirori Mal College, the leading member of the protest. The immeasurable incidents of mob violence are not rare in Delhi University. The unhealthy competition has affected many.