The Hindu : New Delhi News : Jamia's date with democracy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 15, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Jamia's date with democracy

Coming as it does after an eight-year-long wait, Jamia Millia Islamia's date with democracy this Thursday is likely to be a big test for the student community here. As the campus goes to the polls for the students' union, the excitement is high, with all of last week hardly seeing any students attending classes.

To be held amid high security, the elections have been all about colourful campaigns and tea parties as of now. But while the student community is approaching the elections with much anticipation, there is also a lot of apprehension about the direction that the polls might take in the future.

It may not be anything like the students' union elections held in Delhi University or Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), but despite the distinct path that Jamia has decided to take by prohibiting the involvement of political parties in the elections, the polls are not quite about independent candidates.

If the loud banners and pamphlets that dominate the campus roads are an indication of money power still playing an important role, the involvement of political parties -- even if not openly -- as of now seems like an inseparable part of campus politics.

The Supreme Court's call for cleaning up student elections is being welcomed by student outfits in general, but no one really believes that political alliances can be kept away from the campus.

Even Jamia Vice-Chancellor Mushirul Hasan admits that keeping students away from the politics around them may not be a good idea "It is time that student politics came of age. Political parties are part of the democratic process and we cannot really keep students isolated from it. We can, however, try to keep the elections regulated to ensure they are conducted in a civilised manner,'' feels Prof.Hasan.

The fear of disqualification may have ensured that no candidate made any mention of support from a party, but as a member of a Left-wing student outfit pointed out, most rules have been already flouted, even if rather discreetly. From the grandson of a Member of Parliament contesting a top post to other candidates admitting that they have the support of some parties, the politics at Jamia is really below the surface as of now. And will perhaps remain so till students know for sure that the democratic process will at least this time not run into trouble.

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To create awareness about drug abuse, Lady Shri Ram College organised an inter-college mock United Nations National Summit on Drug Abuse and Drug Trade. Funded by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the four-day event took off on December 9 and the aim was to adopt a workable solution at the end.

Represented at the summit were countries that are significantly influenced by the drug trade like Afghanistan, India, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Iran, Columbia, Bolivia, Peru, the US, Britain, the Netherlands, China, Russian Federation, Australia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Morocco and Pakistan.

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Dr. Shamsul Hayat, a scientist in the Department of Botany at Aligarh Muslim University, has been selected for the Professor Hiralal Chakravarty Memorial Award for 2005-2006.Given in recognition of the excellent research carried out in the area of Brassinosteroids, a plant hormone, Dr. Hayat has edited two books in the field of his research and contributed more than 40 research papers in national and international journals.

With the study of cinema fast gaining popularity in the country, an increasing number of institutes are now offering film production. Joining the league now is Autodesk Media and Entertainment, a leader in integrated digital content creation, management and distribution tools, which has tied up with Zee Interactive Learning Systems Ltd. (ZILS) to offer a comprehensive high end editing course at the Zee Institute of Media Arts (ZIMA) in Mumbai.

The first of its kind, the-tie up will allow the institute to run a course on AutoDesk's new Smoke system. An advanced course aimed at professionals currently employed with the TV and film industry, the two-month-long training will include classroom sessions as well as extensive hands on experience on the systems.

-Lakshmi B. Ghosh

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