Tag: DU vice chancellor

‘Revoke Punishment’: Academicians Condemn DU for Action on Students for Screening BBC Documentary

In a letter to the vice-chancellor, 59 signatories, on behalf of the India Academic Freedom Network, said that the punishment given to the students is disproportionate to the alleged violation by them.

New Delhi: A group of academicians on April 6, Thursday, condemned Delhi University for its action on some students who had participated in the screening of the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India: The Modi Question.

In a letter to the vice-chancellor, 59 signatories, on behalf of the India Academic Freedom Network, requested the vice-chancellor of Delhi University to revoke the punishment given to the students.

They said that “the punishment given [to the students] is disproportionate to the alleged violation” by them.

“We need not tell you that university is supposed to be a space where students and teachers feel free to get information from any source, decide for themselves and express themselves freely. They are adults and can take decisions for themselves. We, teachers and administrators are not here to police their thoughts or censor their sources of information., it said.

“The only condition we all must follow while exercising this right is that it should not promote hatred and violence. But the documentary was only a critical examination of the present regime in the context of the situation of Muslims. How could its screening by some students become a threat to order on the campus is beyond our understanding,” it added.

Two DU students were barred from the Delhi University for a year for allegedly helping in the campus screening of the BBC documentary on the 2002 Godhra riots. They won’t be allowed to take part in “any university or college or departmental examination or examinations for one year from the date of issue of the memorandum”.

In the memorandum issued on March 10, the DU registrar claimed that the BBC documentary India: The Modi Question is “banned”.

However, the Union government had directed YouTube and Twitter to take down links to the documentary. “The documentary was never banned and is still not banned by the government,” said the letter by the India Academic Freedom Network.

Separately, the V-Dem Institute, in its 2023 update to its ‘Academic Freedom Index’, has noted that India is among 22 countries and territories out of 179 in the world, where institutions and scholars enjoy ‘significantly less freedom today than 10 years ago.’

Also read: BBC, Nationalism and a Nation in Denial

Read the full text and list of signatories below.

§

To

The Vice Chancellor,

University of Delhi

Date : 6 April, 2023

Sub: Request to revoke the punishment given to the students who had participated in the screening of the BBC documentary.

Sir,

This is to express our anguish over the news of punishment, of varying degrees, to some students of the university for having screened a documentary produced by the BBC. The memorandum regarding the punishment, as published in the media, states that they had violated the ban on screening of the said documentary by the government of India. We want to bring to your notice and it is known to all that the documentary was never banned and is still not banned by the government. So, the ground for disciplinary action does not exist.

The letter says that the students should have taken permission from the authorities 24 hours prior to any demonstration. It is just possible that this condition was not met by the students. But had they done something so serious that the university should take away from them the right to appear in examinations? Had they damaged university property or caused physical violence?

We need not tell you that university is supposed to be a space where students and teachers feel free to get information from any source, decide for themselves and express themselves freely. They are adults and can take decisions for themselves. We, teachers and administrators are not here to police their thoughts or censor their sources of information. The only condition we all must follow while exercising this right is that it should not promote hatred and violence. But the documentary was only a critical examination of the present regime in the context of the situation of Muslims. How could its screening by some students become a threat to order on the campus is beyond our understanding.

Even if the university authorities felt that their order for prior permission was not adhered to, the punishment given is disproportionate to the alleged violation by the students. Their screening had not caused any violence or disturbance. Had the security personnel not interfered with the screening and stopped it forcefully it would have passed peacefully.

We therefore feel that in light of the facts regarding the lawful status of the documentary and the right of the students to get information and have a free discussion on the campus, the university authorities should withdraw the orders penalising the students involved in the screening of the BBC documentary. It is our duty , as university community to make campus a safe space for the students to engage in critical thinking. It is needless to say that it is not the job of the university to defend the government or disallow thoughts critical to it. We hope that our concern would be heard and the said punishment order would be withdrawn.

Thanking you,

Sincerely Yours

Apoorvanand, Nandini Sundar

On Behalf of

India Academic Freedom Network

List of Signatories:

 

Sl.  Name Affiliation 
1 Apoorvanand Department of Hindi, University of Delhi
2 Satish Deshpande Department of Sociology, University of Delhi
3 Nandini Sundar Department of Sociology,University of Delhi
4 Shahana Bhattacharya Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi
5 Bharati Jagannathan Miranda House, University of Delhi
6 Ira Raja Department of English, University of Delhi
7 Naina Dayal St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi
8 Janaki Abraham Department of Sociology, University of Delhi
9 Anil Kumar University of Delhi
10 C Saratchand Satyawati College, University of Delhi
11 Renu Bala DTF
12 Rudrashish Chakraborty Department of English, Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi
13 Jyoti Sabharwal University of Delhi
14 Rupali Bhardwaj University of Delhi
15 Abha Dev Habib Miranda House, University of Delhi
16 Debjani Sengupta IP College, University of Delhi
17 Tanvir Aeijaz University of Delhi
18 Sucharita Sen Jawaharlal Nehru University
19 Kausik Bhattacharya Department of Philosophy and Comparative Religion, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, W.B.
20 Sneha Sharma Ramjas College, University of Delhi
21 Neeraj Malik Indraprastha college, University of Delhi
22 Imrana Naseem Professor
23 Sudipta Bhattacharyya Professor, Dept of Economics & Politics, Visva-Bharati.
24 Ambar Ahmad Kamala Nehru College, University of Delhi
25 Avinash Kumar Faculty, Jawaharlal Nehru University
26 Mallikarjun Sajjan All India University Employees Confederation
27 Manas Maity Professor, Visva-Bharati University
28 Mallikarjun Sajjan All India University Employees Confederation
29 Shikha Kapur Academic
30 Dr Para Dholakia University of Delhi
31 Rahul Govind University of Delhi
32 Sanghamitra Misra University of Delhi
33 Bilasini Naorem Miranda House, University of Delhi
34 Bharati Associate Prof (retd)
35 Nandita Narain St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi
36 Vijaya Venkataraman University of Delhi, University of Delhi
37 Trisha Gupta Professor, Jindal School of Journalism and Communication
38 Ashwini Kumar DUTA
39 Girwar Singh AISEC
40 Karen Gabriel St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi
41 Savithri Singh University of Delhi
42 Dr. Uma Shankar Zakir Husain Delhi College, University of Delhi
43 Khalid Ashraf Retired Teacher
44 Rajni Palriwala Retd. University of Delhi
45 Prem Kumar Vijayan Hindu College, University of Delhi
46 Dr Rachna Singh Hindu College, University of Delhi
47 Pramod Ranjan Assam University
48 Harbans Mukhia Formerly Jawaharlal Nehru University
49 Poonam Kaushik Pragatisheel Mahila Sangathan Delhi
50 Dr. S.K. Chauhan Hindu College, University of Delhi
51 Dr. Joseph Tharamangalam, PhD. Mount St.Vincent University, Halifax, Canasa.
52 Sanjay Kumar Misra Department of English, R.B.S. College, Agra
53 Satyam Varma Rahul Foundation
54 Pramod Yadava Superannuated Professor
55 Nisha Biswas Feminists in Resistance
56 Rohan D’Souza Kyoto University
57 Shamsul Islam Former faculty University of Delhi (Satyawati College)
58 Walter Fernandes NESRC
59 Ghanshyam Shah Retired Prof. Jawaharlal Nehru University

 

Almost Half of All Central Universities Functioning Without a Regular Vice-Chancellor

Education ministry officials have said that the delay was because the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had failed to approve the files of the shortlisted candidates.

New Delhi: Nearly half of the Central universities in the country are currently operating without a regular vice-chancellor, which has hampered their ability to recruit permanent teachers and implement the National Education Policy’s features, according to a report in The Telegraph.

Of the country’s 45 Central universities, 20 were functioning without a regular vice-chancellor, the report said. The 20 Central universities which are currently without any regular VCs include leading educational institutions like Banaras Hindu University, Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University.

They also include North-Eastern Hill University (Shillong), Manipur University, Assam University (Silchar), Guru Ghasidas University (Chhattisgarh), Sagar University (Madhya Pradesh), two Sanskrit universities in Delhi, two Central universities each in Bihar and Jammu and Kashmir, and one Central university each in Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland.

For 12 of these universities, selection committees had conducted interviews and submitted the names of the shortlisted candidates for the posts of vice-chancellor four months ago, two education ministry officials in the know told the daily. For the other eight universities, the selection process was yet to commence.

The ministry officials also said that the delay was because the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had failed to approve the files of the shortlisted candidates.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a DU professor said that the government was suffering from “policy paralysis”. “They are so driven by ideology that they do not bother about higher education institutions,” the professor said.

However, a senior education ministry official said that legally, the PMO had no role to play in the appointment of VCs. “The ministry has to send the file (of shortlisted candidates) to the President, who is the Visitor of the central universities and makes the final selection,” the official said and added that it would usually take a week to issue the appointment letters then. “However,” the official said, “these days the files are sent to the PMO unofficially. The files are delayed there.”

Also read: Like it or Not, Faculty Shortages in Indian Universities Are Now Permanent

The Prime Minister’s Office vets the shortlisted candidates and sends the list back to the education ministry with its recommendation, following which, the ministry sends the file to the President along with a verbal communication about the government’s preferences.

As per procedure, the education ministry must set up a search cum-selection committee to find a successor at least six months before a vice chancellor’s term ends. The committee will then submit a ‘panel’ of around three names to the ministry for informal ‘vetting’ and ‘due diligence’. These are then sent ahead to the Visitor to all central universities, which is the office of the President of India, for approval, after which the final appointments are announced.

Last August, selection panels held interviews to shortlist VCs for Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri National Sanskrit University and the Central Sanskrit University in Delhi. However, since then, the files with the shortlisted candidates have been awaiting approval from the PMO, officials said.

In most of the 20 universities, the outgoing VCs had received extensions while in the rest, the senior-most professor had been appointed as the acting VC, a DU professor said.

“The VCs on extension and the acting VCs are hesitant to decide key issues such as the implementation of the NEP, for instance, starting inter-disciplinary courses and four-year undergraduate programmes, or discontinuing the MPhil courses,” the DU professor said and added that acting VCs were also hesitant to plan academic activities during the pandemic or decide on starting COVID-19 care centres on campuses or exempting students from paying fees for facilities that remain unused since the institutions are closed.

Additionally, interim VCs are not allowed to recruit any permanent teachers or employees as well.

Last week, the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) also urged President Ram Nath Kovind to “appoint full-time vice chancellors, thus filling in the vacancy or replacing the temporary vice chancellors in 21 central universities”.

The press release by the ABVP said that in Central universities in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Meghalaya, the appointment of VCs had been pending for over a year. “In Manipur, the appointment has not been made even after the interviews concluded in August last year,” it said.

“Absence of a full-time vice chancellor for more than a year in some central universities is a matter of grave concern. The vice chancellor plays a major role in academic and administrative activities in the university,” national general secretary of the ABVP, Sushri Nidhi Tripathi, said.

Furthermore, the IITs at Bhubaneswar, Patna, Indore and Mandi have also been without regular directors for over a year. While a selection panel headed by education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal had last year interviewed candidates for IIT Bhubaneswar and IIT Patna, the PMO had not returned the files.

‘Dereliction of Duty’: DU Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi Suspended by President

Tyagi, who was admitted to AIIMS in July under an emergency medical condition, has been on leave since then.

New Delhi: Delhi University vice-chancellor Yogesh Tyagi was suspended on Wednesday on the orders of President Ram Nath Kovind who has also directed an inquiry against him over allegations of dereliction of duty, according to officials of the Ministry of Education.

The President, who is the Visitor to the university, has placed Tyagi under suspension to ensure that the inquiry is fair and that he is not able to tamper with material records or coerce the witnesses, a senior ministry official said.

“All orders issued by or issued with the approval of Yogesh Tyagi during the period of his absence on medical ground are set aside and to be treated as null and void,” the official said.

The move comes amid a power tussle in the corridors of Delhi University.

President Ram Nath Kovind had on Wednesday approved the education ministry’s proposal to inquire against Tyagi for administrative lapses due to his unauthorised absence from the university, the Indian Express reported.

Tyagi, who was admitted to AIIMS on July 2 under an emergency medical condition and has been on leave since then, has apparently not been attending office regularly since January.

The ministry official said, “The Vice Chancellor is not administering the university in accordance with (statutory) provisions…which has caused mis-governance and malfunctioning of University of Delhi. This is not conducive for appropriate academic as well as administrative environment of the university.”

Also read: As DU Colleges Face Stiff Competition, Kejriwal Asks Centre to Change Rules

“The President of India in his capacity as Visitor of the University, on consideration of facts and material available on record, has ordered to conduct an inquiry into the allegations of dereliction of duties and lack of commitment and devotion to duty against him. The president has also been pleased to place Yogesh Tyagi under suspension with immediate effect until further orders as he may influence/coerce the witnesses and tamper with the material records of the university so as to ensure fair inquiry,” the official said.

The ministry had attempted to remove Tyagi in the past, the report added, over not resolving the ad hoc teachers’ appointment issue and leaving faculty posts vacant for years despite multiple reminders.

What’s happening in the DU’s VC office?

A controversy had erupted when Tyagi removed pro-VC P.C. Joshi (who is having charge of VC at present) and appointed Geeta Bhat, the director of the Non-Collegiate Women’s Eduction Board of the university, in his place. However, during his tenure, Joshi appointed a new registrar, Vikas Gupta, whose appointment was cleared by the executive council. Meanwhile, Tyagi appointed P.C. Jha as acting registrar and director for South Campus.

The education ministry reportedly recognised Gupta’s appointment as registrar and stated that if Tyagi wants to join office, then he must submit a medical fitness certificate.

P.C. Jha wrote to the ministry last week insisting his appointment complied with the rules, according to the Indian Express report. The ministry then wrote to the registrar appointed by Joshi, Vikas Gupta, ordering DU to initiate disciplinary action against Jha under the University Act.

According to reports, it was also brought to the notice of the ministry that the posts of registrar and finance officers in the university are lying vacant for the past few months. The scheduled interviews expected to be held last month had to be postponed due to Tyagi’s absence, and therefore, pro-VC Joshi is now authorised to preside over the selection committee until Tyagi is back.

(With inputs from PTI)

Protest in DU After Student Attacks Teacher For Making ‘Anti-National’ Remarks

A law student allegedly dragged his professor to Maurice Nagar police station when he called a video of Pulwama attack a propaganda material.

Students at Delhi University (DU), on February 26, held a protest march in north campus, demanding the vice chancellor to take immediate action against a law student accused of assaulting a guest faculty member.

Holding up banners which read: “DU against violence”, the students appealed the administration to take stock of the rampant hooliganism on the campus and take urgent measures to put an end to it.

On the day of the Pulwama attack, Devendra Barala, a third-year-student, tried to show a WhatsApp video of the incident to his teacher– who called it a propaganda material, the Times of India reported.

Angered at his response, Barala, on February 21, wrote a letter to the dean and the DU vice chancellor alleging that the teacher made insensitive remarks against the nation and mocked the CRPF officials detailing all the discussions in class and citing his refusal to watch the video. He also asked the administration to take disciplinary action against the teacher.

https://twitter.com/DevendraBarala/status/1099680749484212225

However, the concerned faculty member denied all the claims. The Times of India quoted him as saying, “I didn’t say anything of the sort. He (Devendra Barala) assaulted me and then dragged me to the Maurice Nagar police station. But I managed to file an assault case against him.”

The joint student teacher’s consultative committee, on February 22, issued a showcause notice to Barala asking him to explain his behaviour and the dean said that they will constitute a committee to probe the matter.

Protest in DU

According to the Hindustan Times, on February 25, the Delhi University Teacher’s Association released a statement condemning the assault on the teacher saying, “The student’s “justification” for the assault, that the teacher’s questions hurt his nationalist sentiment, is completely unacceptable.”

The association appealed the vice chancellor to take necessary steps to protect the dignity of teachers and ensure their freedom of expression while referring to similar cases of assault in the past.

In the light of repeated attacks on Kashmiris after the Pulwama attack, they also urged the government to take adequate measures “to counter the threat to social harmony caused by divisive propaganda by certain sections.”

Consequently, the university students organised a protest march outside DU’s arts faculty demanding immediate action against those who indulged in the attack. Kawalpreet Kaur, Delhi state president of All India Students’ Association and law faculty student tweeted as saying:

Featured image credit: Facebook

Pinjra Tod Returns to Delhi University as Students Await Proctors’ Decision on Curfew Timings

Delhi University students block roads and storm varsity’s gates as administration fails to fulfill their demands.

Although the Pinjra Tod movement started with Delhi a few years ago, in recent weeks its epicentre has dispersed to various smaller cities across the country. Raipur, Bhopal, Patiala have all seen women protesting against restrictive, gendered curfews and other rules – and winning concessions from previously intractable administrations.

Last week, the movement’s wave returned to its founding ground, Delhi, where women in Delhi University’s north campus took up their old battle cry to ask for removal of hostel curfews.

Pinjra Tod called a protest on October 8 at arts faculty, north campus to demand a curfew-free existence.

On the day PTI reported that Pinjra Tod had submitted a charter of demands to the vice chancellor of the university on October 1, demanding that curfews be scrapped and hostel allocation guidelines be revamped. In the charter, they included a threat to stage a protest if their demands weren’t met in seven days.

With no response from the administration the following week, the students blocked the road outside campus on October 8 and even tried to scale the university’s locked gates. However, security personnel allegedly thwarted their attempts and even tried to physically assault them. The personnel, however, denied this allegation made against them.

A student of journalism, Suman Shekhar, posted this video on Twitter to show how Delhi police treated these protestors.

Mindful of their civic duties, students created a barricade on the main road but let ambulances pass through, letting no other cars or pedestrians cross.

Later the proctor agreed to come and hold deliberations with agitators. However, she did not say anything about complying with their demands.

A Times of India report quoted Devangana Kalita, Pinjra Tod member, as saying “The Deputy Proctor and the Proctor came to meet us but did not listen to our demands.”

While the protest continued on campus, the mall road blockade was called off after 10pm when some of the Pinjra Tod members were called to meet with the proctors.

The memorandum submitted to the university administration said that the administration has been rejecting the demands for the past three years, taking no necessary action to resolve the issue.

Besides asking for freer living conditions in the women’s hostels, the memorandum also demanded a separate hostel for students with disabilities; the setting up of an internal complaints committee (ICC) and strict implementation of SC, ST, OBC and PwD reservations in all women’s hostels.

Apart from Miranda House, no college in DU has agreed to look into the matter. “The Miranda House Principal Pratibha Jolly was pressured to come out and speak to the students who had stormed through the front gate. She agreed to put out a notice in the hostel making it clear that wardens are not allowed to call up parents without a student’s consent, they will not make sexist comments, there will be no curfew on food delivery, clean drinking water, and 24*7 medical facilities. The Principal also said that she is too ‘liberal’ to not agree to our demands and that she will address our removal of curfew demand by 30th Oct.” said Pinjra Tod in a Facebook post.

According to the Pinjra Tod protestors, the university proctors have decided to consider their demands after the mid-sem break (last week of October).

Students across the country have been constantly putting pressure on university authorities to remove restrictive curfew timings for women hostellers. There have been protests in Raipur, Ajmer, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar and Kottayam over the last few months. While some university administrations have taken steps to meet students’ demands, the hostel rules continues to remain discriminatory towards women at large.

Feature image credit: Twitter