POWER PROTEST & PUNISHMENT

City's university campuses are changing. Students of yore feel nostalgic about how everyday interactions shaped campus cultures. Old universities have a new set of students now, who bring their own preferences for dealing with the administration. New cultures are shaping contemporary times, but the past continues to return, causing a tension that sometimes takes the shape of discord, says the city team.

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THE protests began quietly on campuses, but not for long. In Delhi University, students gathered to question decisions taken without taking them into consideration. Within days, the administration imposed a ban on protests, arguing that demonstrations would disturb campus order.

For students, the ban felt like a message: disagreement was no longer welcome. At the same time, tension was rising in Jawaharlal Nehru University. The suspension of officebearers of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union triggered fresh anger. What followed were sit-ins, overnight encampments, and repeated calls for the administration to withdraw punitive action. Tents appeared outside academic blocks, and students turned public spaces into places of discussion and resistance.

Each attempt to silence the protests only led to new ones. The cycle repeated itself - protest, punishment, and protest again.

Here we stand

The current atmosphere did not emerge overnight. Since the FTII strike in 2015, there has been a steady accumulation of conflicts and protests across Indian campuses. The protest by Dalit students at Hyderabad Central University and the death by suicide of Rohith Vemula in January 2016 exposed how caste and institutional power intersect. The arrest of students in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on sedition charges in February 2016 marked a dramatic escalation. The forced entry by Delhi Police into Jamia Millia Islamia during protests forms part of a continuing pattern. Each episode has tightened the boundaries of permissible speech.

Former student leaders argue that what is underway is not depoliticisation but destruction. Dhananjay, the first and former Dalit president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) 2023-24, puts it bluntly, "The effort is not to depoliticise; the effort is to destroy.