Today is the 9th day of the ongoing peaceful sit-in protest by AISA- led Ambedkar University Delhi Karampura AUDSC-KP and students of AUD. The AUD administration remains neglectful of the protestors and has not responded to call for meetings or sent any representative to meet the protesting students.
Nevertheless more students occupied the protest site inside campus. The protestors also joined the call against the iron gate being constructed between the campuses of AUD and IGDTUW. Mrinalini, CC member of AUDSC KP addressed the gathering citing how the AUD administration is more concerned about surveillance rather than safety of the students and is doing nothing to prevent the IGDTUW administration from constructing the gate. Once this gate’s construction is complete, only one road of campus will remain available to students as solely AUD campus. Moreover, in a space like the university which in itself signifies freedom of thought and expression, the bringing in of another gate is not just symbolic of shrinking of physical space but also intellectual. AUD Kashmere Gate campus and IGDTUW have shared space since AUD was founded, the ground and auditorium are designated shared spaces. If not for the ground, AUD students only have corridors with no fans and a small canteen as available public places as classrooms are also locked after classes are over. We reject the installing of another iron gate and re-emphasise our demand for removal of barricades and opening of the front gate.
The AUD administration has made public a letter that was addressed to the IGDTUW administration on 3rd October where reconsideration of the installation of the gate is being suggested (notification attached below). It must be noted that it was also shared with students that these negotiations between the two administrations have been going for over two weeks and it is only on 1st October that this letter states, a communication was sent by the IGDTUW administration confirming the gate’s installation. The sit-in protest started, rejecting the already installed gates started on 28th September 2026. This should have nudged the AUD administration to outrightly reject the bringing in of another gate if students’ concerns were its priority. However, as we can see, the ground is already broken and the work for installing the gate is underway.
The new gate is being installed by IGDTUW administration citing safety of female students of the university. This must also be seen in the context of the larger movement demanding women’s safety in Delhi following the rape case in Aastha Kunj near Lady Shri Ram College. The installation of a gate to ‘protect’ female students is no different from LSR announcing online classes the day after the crime was reported. We reject this move to install an iron gate between the two campuses placing conditions on students of AUD to vacate IGDTUW campus while also placing movement restrictions on students of IGDTUW.
The students of AUD resolve to continue the protest till all 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
