‘Don’t become political tool’: Delhi University tells students to stay away from youth protests

The students of Delhi University should not become a “political tool” and must stay away from the youth protests, The Indian Express quoted an unidentified senior university official as saying on Wednesday.

The official said that while there was “no advisory in place” prohibiting students from participating in the demonstrations, doing so could have consequences, the newspaper reported.

“We just want our students to be safe and we are acting only in the best interest of our students,” The Indian Express quoted the official as saying.

The remarks came a day after the university said in a social media post that it recognised the “pain and anxiety” of its students, but alleged that “vested interests” were exploiting their fears instead of addressing them.

“The need of the hour is to calm the situation and reduce their distress, so that they can focus on what truly matters: their studies and their future,” the statement added.

Responding to the statement, the Democratic Teachers’ Front, a teachers’ union at the university, said on Wednesday that it remained “silent on both the causes for this pain and anxiety and of the violence suffered by these very students”, PTI reported.

The union argued that referring to “vested interests” sought to discredit the movement.

“The statement is dishonest, masking its apathy as empathy,” the teachers’ body said.

The protests in Delhi began on June 6, when the Cockroach Janta Party started its demonstration at Jantar Mantar to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, alleging that he was responsible for paper leaks in national competitive examinations.

On Sunday, thousands joined the protest in Delhi after the police forcibly shifted activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike, to a hospital.

A march to Parliament on Monday was met with heavy police action. Dozens of protesters were injured in baton charges and had to brave tear gas.

The police action widened the support for the agitation, which soon spread to other cities.

Follow updates about the youth protest here.

JNU students stopped from leaving campus, claims union

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union has alleged that students were prevented from leaving the campus to join the march to Parliament in central Delhi on Monday, The New Indian Express reported.

The union claimed that barricades were erected, gates were shut and police checked taxi-booking pick-up points when students attempted to leave the campus.

On Monday, The Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, warned students and employees against showing their “affinity with political movement like the one currently in public utterance and in public criticism”.

The institute later said that it was a routine advisory and “should not be misinterpreted or viewed out of context”.

Edited by Tanya Shrivastava.

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• With elections perceived to be rigged, do Indians see protests as the only option?

• Delhi protests: Constitution demands that India’s judiciary check police excess