Sisodia directs withdrawal of action against student for 'derogatory' remarks

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday directed the authorities to ensure that no action is taken against the Ambedkar University student fined for allegedly posting distasteful remarks online against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal prompting the varsity to withdraw its earlier orderSisodia who spoke to the penalised student on Monday also ordered that relevant directions be issued to all universities that come under the aegis of the Delhi government to ensure that no such action is taken against students in future for expressing their opinions unless they are damaging to the social fabric of the country or go against its constitutional valuesA fine of Rs 5000 was imposed on Neha a final year student of the university last week for allegedly posting distasteful remarks online against the chief minister during the annual convocation on December 23 last yearKejriwal was the chief guest at the eventIt has been brought to my notice that disciplinary action is been taken against a student of Ambedkar University Delhi for voicing certain remarks against the chief minister and myself Firstly no action should be taken against any student for expressing a viewpoint that is different from the government or the university unless the said statement damages the social fabric of our country or is against our constitutional values Sisodia said in an official orderSecondly since the student was expressing her viewpoint against the government as being reported in media the matter should have first been brought to our notice before initiating any action against her A university should be a safe space for students to freely voice their opinions debate and develop their points of views No student should be punished for exercising their right to free speech within the university space he addedSisodia who is also Delhis Education Minister further said This is not the vision I have for my country or any of our universities If voices of criticism and dissent cannot be expressed against political leaders in our country then we are no longer a democracy but a dictatorship And this in itself is a reason why the Right to Freedom of Speech must be secured for every student and every citizenThe deputy chief minister directed the principal secretary higher education to look into the matter and ensure that the fine imposed on the student is cancelled and she faces no action for her remarksAccording to university officials the order imposing the fine on the student has been withdrawn following Delhi governments orderThe university had last week in a statement said people had joined its ninth convocation on YouTubeDuring the programme the student started disrupting it using the YouTube chat room The comments made by the student were derogatoryslurdistasteful The convocation is the most auspicious programme in the academic cycle of any student The conduct was unbecoming of a student and was against the values for which Dr B R Ambedkar University stands the university saidThe action was taken as the conduct of the student was in violation of the code of discipline prescribed and notified for the students of AUD the statement had saidThe Leftbacked All India Students Association AISA had alleged that the student was fined Rs 5000 for an online protest against the universitys fee hike and discrepancies in the implementation of the reservation policyDeputy CM Mr msisodia personally reached out amp assured that no action would be taken against me weareAUD admin must now immediately take back the fine notice amp AUD student community must keep up the fight against high fees amp new admission policy that alienates scst student the penalised student tweetedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever