New Delhi: Some Delhi University colleges have issued a set of instructions for students, including mandatory attendance and a promise of providing extra attendance days, for attending the live streaming of its centenary celebrations, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be chief guest.
Hindu College issued a notice on Thursday, June 29, saying that students’ attendance in the event is mandatory. It added that they will be given “five attendance days for attending the live streaming event.” “It will be submitted to college,” said the notice.
Hansraj College, too, issued a similar notice saying that “students must attend the live streaming in the auditorium…”
Rajdhani College plans to upload the photos of all attendees on both the college as well as university website.
The Valedictory Function of the Centenary Celebrations is scheduled to be held on Friday, June 30.
“It is absolutely condemnable for any college to be releasing such dictatorial directives,” said the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) at the Delhi University, in a statement.
“If making the presence of all students mandatory for the live screening of the event was not exasperating enough, the admin has also asked students to not wear any black dress! It is preposterous that the college and university administration will go to any lengths to curb all sorts of dissent in our educational spaces,” said SFI in a statement.
“In addition to it, baiting students with five attendances in such a manner speaks volumes about the ‘serious’ approach adopted by institutions like Delhi University towards imparting sound, meaningful education to its students,” the statement added.
In a controversial move, the varsity declared June 29 (Thursday), an Eid-ul-Zuha holiday, as a working day for all university employees to “complete all arrangements prior to the Valedictory Function of Centenary Celebrations.”
Abha Dev Habib, secretary of the Democratic Teachers’ Front, told The Wire that such “diktats” make institutions vehicles for propaganda.
“It is one thing for the university to motivate students to join the prime minister’s programme, but another to issue a diktat like this. The instance in DU indicates how our universities are gradually losing their reputation of being institutions of modern education,” she said.
SFI DU also criticised the entire event, calling out Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the Manipur crisis and the wrestlers’ protest.
“A government which resorts to the most brutal measures against dissenting students, pushes teachers to the brink of suicide, constantly propagates unscientific, communal, corrupt and unsound policies like NEP-FYUP in education is called upon to celebrate an institution like Delhi University which was until now known for its secular, democratic and inclusive culture,” read the statement.