Students Protest At DU's North Campus Seeking Resumption Of Offline Classes

Chakka jam and indefinite hunger strike are some of the ways which student organisations with different ideologies have adopted to mark their protest demanding resumption of offline classes at Delhi University colleges. Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh told PTI that the notification for reopening of the campus will be issued soon and consultations are being held with college principals. Day-long protests had also been organised outside the DU VC's office on Monday over the same issue. In the evening, the police had removed the protesters.

On Tuesday, the protesters belonging to various student bodies like the Students' Federation of India (SFI), All India Students' Association (AISA), Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) among others, demanded the reopening of the campus and also protested against the alleged manhandling of protesters by police on Monday. Police had earlier dismissed these allegations. The call for a chakka jam to block Chhatra Marg was given by the SFI and other student organizations on Tuesday.

"The DU VC and administration have repeatedly said that it will take them a lot of time to work on reopening, but it is visible that to assault students and curb their voice, they are always ready and prepared. If this can be done to curb the voices of the students, why not the same be done to reopen our campuses?" said Sachin Singal, SFI North Area Committee Co-convenor and a student of Ramjas College. The KYS also organised a campus march followed by a chakka jam at Chhatra Marg.

The campus march and chakka jam were organized as part of the ongoing campaign for reopening of DU. As part of the campaign, the KYS will also organize a protest demonstration at the Union Ministry of Education on Wednesday, as well as submit a mass  memorandum to the President, who is the Visitor of Delhi University. "The KYS demands release of an immediate administrative order by DU administration to reopen the university and college campuses. Since, a lot many students at DU are outstation students, the university must come out with a notification immediately regarding reopening DU, to ensure that there is no problem to them," it said.

The outfit demanded that the university administration issue a public apology for their "apathetic attitude towards the demands of the DU reopen protest and marginalised students in the university". In South Campus, RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) held a protest to demand the resumption of offline teaching. By the evening, the ABVP and the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) started an indefinite hunger strike .

ABVP and DUSU activists staged a day-long protest on the south campus of Delhi University for the opening of campus and colleges, after which the director of Delhi University''s south campus came and spoke to the students and took their memorandum and demands, the outfit said. He assured to accept the demands of the students at the earliest, they added. ABVP activists and DUSU officials have sat on an indefinite fast on the Chhatra Marg outside the campus of the Arts Faculty of North Campus and are demanding a written order.

ABVP's national media coordinator and Delhi province minister Siddharth Yadav said, "Today, six ABVP workers along with DUSU office-bearers are sitting on hunger strike against the decision to not open the campus of Delhi University and in support of the same, we are going to hold strong demonstration tomorrow so that the university administration can open its eyes and we plan to continue the fast and protest till the university is not completely opened." On Wednesday, the organisation will protest outside the Academic Council meeting to press their demand of resumption of offline teaching.

DU VC Yogesh Singh said they will open the campus soon. "We are thinking of reopening and we will do it soon. The students are getting impatient. It is a big system. We are consulting with college principals. A meeting was held yesterday and they have started sanitizing the colleges and then there are also hostels. Students are also outside and they will take some time. We will open before the end of this month," he told PTI.

With PTI Inputs