Strikes have always been an integral part of peaceful protests and have been etched deep into our country’s rich history. From boycotting schools and colleges in Swadeshi movement in 1905, marking the commencement of Indian student movement, to protests that took place in Delhi College of Art over jerry-built facilities in 2015, our country’s youth has always believed in voicing their opinions and standing up against the injustice.
On 28 August, eight students from Delhi School of Journalism, Delhi University, were suspended on account of, allegedly, disrupting classes and trammelling administrative work since 27 August, as stated in a letter issued by the college.
Nevertheless, the suspension was rescinded due to the protests. Approximately 100 students were protesting against the lack of facilities in spite of charging more than 60,000 inr fees annually.
However, students stated that they were protesting peacefully for their demands. One of the suspended students said that the college doesn’t even possess working computers and that they wanted to meet the Vice Chancellor, Yogesh Tyagi, to convey their concerns but were denied for the same.
When one of their fellow students was denied entry in the college, they protested outside the director’s office. “We protested outside the director’s office to allow him to enter. The security manhandled us and even called the police,” he added.
The college staff stated that the students were vociferating slogans outside the director’s office and even manhandled her. They also said that the police were not called upon by them but by the varsity security personnel. After this incident, DSJ’s classroom facility, lack of permanent faculty and media labs have been put under the spotlight.
