The ongoing peaceful sitting protest by AISA- led Ambedkar University Delhi Karampura AUDSC-KP and students of AUD entered its eighth day today.
The AUD administration finally opened the gates of the Kashmere Gate campus at 8 AM today and the three student protestors who were garrisoned since October 2- Jigyasa, Shubham and Piyush were able to meet other comrades. Today more students occupied the protest site inside campus and the protest was made stronger as over 100 students joined in sloganeering and demanding that the administration meet the protestors. The guards surrounded the students to snatch the handheld microphone, which was met by heavy resistance to protect the protesters with multiple layered human chains. However, there was no response from the administration. While the administration and its PR Office continues to share press releases countering students’ claims and rectifying its own image, addressing only the PhD scholar amidst the larger silence on the major demands for removal of barricades and opening of front gate. The students who spent the night outside reported multiple instances of harassment by the intoxicated public, attacks by monkey and not providing access to washrooms to female protestors who were outside, forcing them to use dark alleyways. All of which when addressed to the university guard was met with apathy on the orders of the administration, particularly the Proctor who stated that students outside the gate are not their responsibility. There were multiple power outage, inside & outside, meaning to scare the protestors adding to a turbulent but sucessful sit-in outside leading to the reopening the campus today.
In the meantime, the construction of an iron gate between the IGDTUW and AUD campus continues, citing safety of female students of IGDTUW. AUD shares the ground space with IGDTUW and the only other ground lies exclusively under the VC Secretariat Area, which is restricted by another iron gate. The IGDTUW ground remained one of the only spaces for discussions, debate, practices, sports as well as leisure for AUD students. This clearly shows how the administrations of both universities view students as threats and aim to limit their spaces of engagement, especially with the circular being approved by AUD on 1 October, after the indefinite sit-in had already begun since 28 September.
The students of AUD resolve to continue the protest till our demands are met! Our demands include-
- Complete Rollback of Event Permission Notification
•End the Garrisoning of our campus spaces; Open Front Gate & Dismantle All iron gates
•Reinstate PhD Fee Waiver
•Ensure Students’ Representation at all levels of decision making in the university; from board of management to infrastructure grievance redressal committee
•Ensure Faculty recruitment
The student body appeals to civil society, legal rights organizations, human rights bodies, and media houses to intervene, report on the situation, and demand accountability from the university administration. AISA
