From Jodhpur to Kolkata, from Ahmedabad to Delhi, college campuses are bubbling with protest. Students want greater democracy and transparency, more intense consultation and less arbitrariness. In each agitation, social media has emerged as the main catalyst and force-multiplier in student agitations by amplifying voices that would otherwise not have found a platform.
From anonymous blogs to movements born out of Facebook pages, social media sites have proved instrumental in gathering support for these agitations in many different ways.
Here's a look at some of such recent protests.
Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology, Ahmedabad
Students of architecture at the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology had been protesting over the university's renovation of the installations and buildings designed by BV Doshi, founding director of the architecture school at CEPT, who resigned in February.
They took to protest in a creative manner on Wednesday as they observed a mock funeral, and erected a cross reading “RIP CEPT University” and “RIP Freedom”. But what brought the matter to media attention was an open letter that was circulated on the internet, in which some students charged that the new system is a “web of permissions and paperwork” and alleged that a number of experienced teachers have also left the institute following BV Doshi’s resignation.
Stir at IIT-J
For the last year, students at the Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur had been up in arms against the authorities, demanding the resignation of its director CVR Murthy for terminating teachers and closing research facilities. But the protest came to light only a week ago when an anonymous blog on the Quora website drew attention from local and national media. The very next day, cameras were lined up outside the director’s home amidst “a flurry of all so silent students hanging around with posters demanding his resignation, we could successfully prevent the Director (or the dictator) from fleeing away,” the blog noted, and claimed that a storm was kicked up on Twitter too, with over 50,000 tweets on the issue propping up in a matter of hours.
Even as the director had barred students from expressing dissent in any form on the internet through a ‘dictatorial’ code of conduct in January, anonymity lent by social media platforms made it possible for the students to speak up and even organise a mock funeral for their “peace of mind”, forcing the Centre to send a three-member team to the college to sort out the issue.
Leaked letters from IIMC
A leaked email and an anonymous event created on Facebook also revealed the brewing troubles at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication in Delhi. Students of the English Journalism course at the nation’s premier media institute expressed dissatisfaction with the authorities and the way the course is being run.
Through the Facebook event, the students association of IIMC brought attention to the issues and invited people to support them. Some students had even filed Right to Information queries to substantiate their claims that the course heads were not being regular in conducting classes but their own efforts to protest didn’t yield much in itself. One of the faculty members had also written an internal letter to the Director-General Sunit Tandon which also found its way to media outlets after circulating on social media and, according to some students, the authorities have sprung to action as internal firefighting has begun at the institution.
Delhi University’s agitation against the VC
In an ongoing protest against the Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh at the University of Delhi, student groups such as DU Students’ Union and DU Teachers’ Association have been utilising social media to reach out to a large number of people. As the DUTA held a three day long public meet to highlight the issues against the VC who is charged with “academic fraud, illegalities and financial irregularities, and repressive governance,” it utilised Facebook events to keep people updated on the latest in the varsity.
From anonymous blogs to movements born out of Facebook pages, social media sites have proved instrumental in gathering support for these agitations in many different ways.
Here's a look at some of such recent protests.
Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology, Ahmedabad
Students of architecture at the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology had been protesting over the university's renovation of the installations and buildings designed by BV Doshi, founding director of the architecture school at CEPT, who resigned in February.
They took to protest in a creative manner on Wednesday as they observed a mock funeral, and erected a cross reading “RIP CEPT University” and “RIP Freedom”. But what brought the matter to media attention was an open letter that was circulated on the internet, in which some students charged that the new system is a “web of permissions and paperwork” and alleged that a number of experienced teachers have also left the institute following BV Doshi’s resignation.
Stir at IIT-J
For the last year, students at the Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur had been up in arms against the authorities, demanding the resignation of its director CVR Murthy for terminating teachers and closing research facilities. But the protest came to light only a week ago when an anonymous blog on the Quora website drew attention from local and national media. The very next day, cameras were lined up outside the director’s home amidst “a flurry of all so silent students hanging around with posters demanding his resignation, we could successfully prevent the Director (or the dictator) from fleeing away,” the blog noted, and claimed that a storm was kicked up on Twitter too, with over 50,000 tweets on the issue propping up in a matter of hours.
Even as the director had barred students from expressing dissent in any form on the internet through a ‘dictatorial’ code of conduct in January, anonymity lent by social media platforms made it possible for the students to speak up and even organise a mock funeral for their “peace of mind”, forcing the Centre to send a three-member team to the college to sort out the issue.
Leaked letters from IIMC
A leaked email and an anonymous event created on Facebook also revealed the brewing troubles at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication in Delhi. Students of the English Journalism course at the nation’s premier media institute expressed dissatisfaction with the authorities and the way the course is being run.
Through the Facebook event, the students association of IIMC brought attention to the issues and invited people to support them. Some students had even filed Right to Information queries to substantiate their claims that the course heads were not being regular in conducting classes but their own efforts to protest didn’t yield much in itself. One of the faculty members had also written an internal letter to the Director-General Sunit Tandon which also found its way to media outlets after circulating on social media and, according to some students, the authorities have sprung to action as internal firefighting has begun at the institution.
Delhi University’s agitation against the VC
In an ongoing protest against the Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh at the University of Delhi, student groups such as DU Students’ Union and DU Teachers’ Association have been utilising social media to reach out to a large number of people. As the DUTA held a three day long public meet to highlight the issues against the VC who is charged with “academic fraud, illegalities and financial irregularities, and repressive governance,” it utilised Facebook events to keep people updated on the latest in the varsity.
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