DU teachers threatened by bouncers?

Faculty members allege vice-chancellor Dinesh Singh tried to intimidate them this way. V-C says he had no other option as teachers were getting violent

DU teachers threatened by bouncers?

Faculty members allege vice-chancellor Dinesh Singh tried to intimidate them this way. V-C says he had no other option as teachers were getting violent

A Facebook post by a DU teacher reads: "Here's photographic proof that bouncers were brought in to silence us. This was taken just after our protesting their presence and my argument with Prof Prasad, Dean, Faculty of Arts over this. After they were compelled to fall back, they stood by waiting for his command, while we stoically refused to leave.'

Sign language: DU teachers march against the 'imposed' semester
system at Parliament Street in New Delhi. File Pic

The semester row has been brewing for a while now at Delhi University and has been a bitter battle for the teachers. Their demands have not been met by the administration though the teaching faculty members have not left any stone unturned in making their voice heard. Facebook is now their weapon of choice to take the agitation forward.u00a0u00a0

But now there's a fresh controversy. Teachers from several colleges claim that the Vice-Chancellor (V-C) Prof. Dinesh Singh has used force to keep them out of a general meeting called by invitation, held for discussing the syllabi of undergraduate courses. "The V-C had called his security personnel in the meeting so that if we raise our voices in protest, we could be thrown out of the hall," said Karen Gabriel, Professor, Dept of English, St Stephen's College.

A post on the Facebook page by Naveen Gaur, Prof, Dept of Physics, Dayal Singh College reads: "I personally was witness to this shamelessness on the part of DU administration. I would like to mention that the guards told us that they have been called to remove teachers who would try to voice strong dissent."

Faculty members allege that even after teachers present in the meeting opposed the revision of the syllabi as they raised the question of the propriety of the process when no structure has been ratified by the Academic Council (AC) or the Executive Council (EC) of the university, the Presiding committee members continued with the revision process and remained indifferent to the protests.

A group of English teaching faculty of DU called the Joint Action Body (JAB) has taken up the protest against the imposed semester system on Facebook. The page contains posts and pictures by a number of teachers opposing the implementation of the semester system as arbitrary.

The protesting JAB members include teachers from across the DU colleges including St Stephen's college, Hindu College, Hansraj College, Miranda House, Ramjas College, Kirorimal College (KMC), Lady Sri Ram College (LSR),u00a0 Khalsa College, Dayal Singh College, Ram Lal Anand College (RLA) and many others.

Prof PK Vijyan, Department of English, Hindu College said, "We were not allowed to place our opinion at the meeting which is meant for the teachers as they are the ones who'll teach the given syllabus. The worse part is that the meeting itself was marked by the unprecedented and disgraceful use of strong arm tactics by the University authorities."

The protesting camp of teachers is yet to give up though the semester system has been introduced for several UG courses. Apart from meetings, open teaching sessions, distributing pamphlets, Facebook has become the new battleground.

However, principals of various colleges across DU have made it a point to keep out of the debate and have been neutral about the entire issue. "The principals are keeping silent because of the pressure put by the governing authorities including the V-C. They have asked us to keep quiet, but this cannot deter us from protesting a move which is totally wrong," said Prof. Sachin N, Dept of English, Dayal Singh College.

A lot of students are sin support of the teachers and come out for the protest. "We have a good rapport with our teachers and are in contact with them on Facebook as well. We support their stand as it is our cause as well," said Jasmine L Massey, student, St Stephen's College.

The Delhi University Teacher's Association (DUTA) has also decided to keep silent about the matter as they are tied up with the High Court (HC) order, which says that no opposition against the semester system in any form/mode should be taken up by any of the teaching faculty members in the university.u00a0

"The DUTA is tied up with the court order, but we don't care about it. We are not at fault. We have not missed a single class and we use our extra time only in organising protest meets and marches against the imposition of the semester mode in UG courses and its utility," said Abha Dev Habib, Academic Council (AC) member and teacher, Miranda House.

'Testing'time
Delhi University has announced its term-end semester exam dates for the 13 undergraduate science courses, which were shifted to the semester system last year. There will be four papers for each of the honours and BSc physical and life science courses in the Part-I second semester exams. According to the date sheet, exams for the BSc (H), BSc physical science and BSc life science courses will be conducted on May 5, 9, 12 and 16 from 9am onwards. The university administration said the exam date for the environmental studies (qualifying exam) will be announced later.u00a0u00a0

The Other Side
"What can I say to such allegations? I have better things to do than sending bouncers to a meeting. Who in their right mind would believe this? A group of unruly teachers had barged in and become violent. I cannot allow this to happen for which we called security." - Prof Dinesh Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Delhi University

New chapter
The Delhi University has been following the annual academic session since its inception in 1922. The resolution to introduce semester system at undergraduate level in the university was passed recently. The system is already being followed at some universities like Jawaharlal Nehru University and IITs with success. The semester system was put in place in 13 undergraduate science courses in the last academic session after a prolonged confrontation between the University and the Delhi University Teachers Association.