After the polls, back to classes

It is time to get back to the classes, both for teachers as well as students of Delhi University. The past few weeks on the campus have been dominated by election activity. Teachers and students alike had been busy gathering support and preparing for the big day. And now that the two most awaited elections of the University are over, it is time to heave a sigh of relief.

Although a lot of efforts go into these polls, it is not surprising to note that once over, neither the Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) nor the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) is heard too often. In fact, in the case of the DUTA, even two weeks after the new President and 15 Executive Council members were elected, the teachers' body is yet to select the other members of its official body.

The reason is not difficult to guess. With no party managing to bag a majority, the members are apparently still trying to decide on who will be selected for the post of vice-president, secretary, joint secretary and treasurer. Now, if only the decisions were made a little faster, maybe teachers could finally get down to ground work.

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This was the latest in the line of student-related violence reported from Delhi University. The alleged attack on a resident of the D.S.Kothari Hostel has once gain brought into focus the increasing violence among students.

A Ph.D. student in Hindi, Rajesh Chandra Adarsh, had come down to the lobby of the hostel to have water early on Monday morning when he reportedly entered into an argument with three persons, later identified as Sumit Nijawan, Parween and Swaminand.

The argument was followed by fisticuffs, with Rajesh sustaining injuries on his face. But it was the allegation that the boys had passed some castiest remarks against Rajesh that actually gave an almost new angle to the case.

Surprisingly, even as the news was being flashed across a news channel, most senior officials of Delhi University were completely unaware of the incident till late in the evening. Earlier last week, a clash between two groups of the Hansraj College had resulted in the arrest of a few students. Violence in hostels during election time is normal, shamelessly enough confess University authorities.

Although strict action has been taken against the main culprit, it is yet to be seen if the decision will have the necessary effect on other hostel students too.

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It might seem to be a case of crying over spilt milk, but a couple of days after the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad lost dismally in the Delhi University Students Union elections, the party demanded a repoll in at least two colleges.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, the State ABVP president, Jatin Mohanty, blamed the poor turnout, bogus voting and wrong strategies for the party's failure.

Alleging that in at least two colleges -- Bharti college and Shivaji college -- bogus voting had taken place and many students had been denied permission to vote despite their possessing I- cards, the ABVP said breaking rules in elections was becoming the norm of the day.

The ABVP also accused the Congress of trying to politicise the DUSU elections by campaigning for the NSUI. ``They even had the Delhi Transport Minister campaign. Two days before the election, Dr.Pervez Hashmi, announced that a number of U-specials are running in the University. Everyone knows there are hardly any buses in DU, so what else do you call such propaganda?'' he questioned.

There were other complaints too. But the ABVP conceded that it had failed miserably when it came to coming out with the right strategy. ``We did print posters this time, but it did not seem to work for us. New strategies will have to be developed to taste success,'' another member said.

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They have been slogging for years now and their works will now be open to the public for the final verdict. On display this week at the AIFACS gallery at Rafi Marg will be the works of Delhi University's College of Art students. The exhibition will include paintings, drawings, prints, graphic design, photography and sculpture made by students of Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts. Opening today the exhibition will be open till the middle of next week.

By Lakshmi Balakrishnan

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