Students decry ‘curbs on dissent’ on college campuses amid probes, rustications and FIRs

Students protest against increasing restrictions on dissent at Delhi universities amid rustications and campus tensions over caste discrimination issues.

Over the last week, tensions across Delhi’s premier universities have intensified in the wake of rustications, FIRs, protest bans, and campus clashes. Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Aditi Mishra was among the 14 students arrested for a protest demonstration this week. She is also among the five students rusticated for two semesters for a last year’s protest against surveillance in the central library.

Ms. Mishra said curbs on dissent have increased over the years. “All of it is linked to our movement in solidarity with the UGC guidelines and our demand for the Rohith Vemula Act to rid educational institutions of caste discrimination,” she said.

At Delhi University (DU), the administration imposed a month-long ban on protests following clashes during demonstrations over the UGC issue. Danish Ali, JNUSU joint secretary, who is among the five students served with rustication notices and a former DU student, earlier told The Hindu that she has observed a broader trend. “The chronology is important. Our central library protests were in November, and inquiries had already taken place. But after the UGC rules were stayed, we announced a protest against the stay. That is when our rustication orders came in,” she said.

 “Whenever marginalised students come forward, authorities begin cracking down,” Ms. Ali claimed.

“Proctorial inquiries have become so common that it has become a joke among us. If you breathe, you attract one,” said Hafsa, a JNU student. She noted this is the first time the entire union has faced rustication. At DU, too, student organisations have criticised the protest ban and warned that it could be extended. In a statement, All India Students’ Association condemned the “arbitrary curfew”, alleging that it was designed to suppress “anti-caste mobilisation”.

Former JNUSU president Dhananjay has filed a complaint with the National Commission of Scheduled Castes, alleging that JNU Vice-Chancellor Santishree D. Pandit’s alleged “casteist” remarks during a podcast last month, which faced flak from students and academics and triggered fresh protests, promoted “enmity, hatred and ill-will against the Dalit community”.