Delhi: Peace March to Protest Jahangirpuri Demolition Drive Disrupted by AUD Admin

A peace march, organised by the Ambedkar University (AUD) unit of the Students Federation of India (SFI), was disrupted by the University administration on Thursday, April 21. AUD students allege that the administration used physical force and verbally attacked students to stop the march.

The call for the march was given to protest the "anti-encroachment" drive undertaken by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) in Jahangirpuri a few days ago, which was targetted at the Bengal Muslim population in retaliation to the April 16 communal violence in the area.

The peace march was scheduled for the lunch break on April 21. According to the AUD-SFI statement, students were preparing for the march outside the CR Area and singing songs when AUD Registrar Nitin Malik, Proctor Satyaketu Sankrit and Security Office Dharmendra arrived at the scene with other guards to stop the event. At first, they tried to confiscate the posters with slogans such as "SFI AUD Against Communalism" and "SFI AUD For Peace." To protect their posters, AUD students formed a human chain. At this point, the guards pushed two SFI-AUD activists to the ground and tore the posters and placards made by the students.

The students allege that the administration "employed petty tactics, telling them that they have no right to organise and conduct any activities inside the University in the name of an organisation."

The administration's attempt to stop the march led to an altercation with AUD students gathered for the event. The former got active support from some Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members. Students have particularly highlighted the roles of Malik and Sankrit, who led a verbal onslaught, with Malik going as far as to snatch the phone from a students activist.

"When the altercation was taking place, I tried to appeal to the Registrar to let us take the peace march. Rather than listening to our demands, he said he would get me suspended from the University," said Kislay, a first-year student of MA Environment and Development.

The altercation continued for an hour, and the peace march could not take place.

SFI-AUD activists

"Such behaviour from the part of administration is not only a blatant attack on the fundamental rights of students to organise within the campus, but also is an attack on their rights as students of the University to assemble peacefully. We would like to remind the University administration that students of public universities have the rights under the Lyngdoh Committee Guidelines to unionise into organisations," said Nadia, Vice President of SFI-AUD.

"The whole attempt by the administration today reflects what kind of politics is acceptable within the campus space. The administration clearly showed today that any attempt made by progressive organisations or students would be quelled violently with threats of suspension and rustication," said Anuraag, Joint Secretary of SFI-AUD.

The AUD administration has resorted to similar measures to stifle dissent on the campus in the recent past. On April 9 last year, the University Proctor imposed a fine of Rs 40,000 and de-registered a student for making graffiti on the campus walls. Even after yesterday's incident, one of the student activists was issued a notice to meet the Proctor on April 22.

SFI-Delhi, in its statement, said that as AUD is a state university, "the administration's action reflects the same positions adopted by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, which is the dehumanisation of the Muslims who are under attack."

"The condonement of anti-Muslim violence by the Delhi government is what prevails in the universities as well, which actively suppresses students calling for communal harmony and end to violence. In fact, their response to communalism was a xenophobic variant of the same and offered no alternative to hate politics," the statement further read.