New Delhi: Delhi University’s Sri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) today cancelled a scheduled panel discussion on ‘Why the North-east (is) Protesting’ against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) barely an hour before it was to take place. The university reportedly came under pressure from the students’ body, backed by the RSS’s student wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

According to a statement issued by the organisers, the college’s recently formed North East Cell of students, “In an emergency meeting held (with some student representatives from the Cell) mere hours before the event, the administration and the principal informed us that the event is cancelled due to unavoidable circumstances.”

“We were told that they received information about the possibility of violence on campus if the event was to take place. We were also told that there was no balance in our panel and all our speakers had the ‘same bent of mind’.”

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The NE Cell’s statement further said, “We insisted that this was not a politically motivated event and that it was conducted because there exists a complete lack of awareness about the North East protests in (the) college. This discussion was the need of the hour which garnered immense support and we were expecting a large crowd of students (from) all over the (Delhi University) campus.”

Before the Cell members were called by principal Simrit Kaur, the student’s union wrote a letter to her seeking the event’s cancellation, stating, “This seminar is based on one-sided ideologies on the CAA Act which may indulge (in) violence and misleading information among the students. Furthermore, the government has already circulated to educational institutions regarding spreading awareness about the facts and right information about CAA. Being a responsible institution, SRCC must not accept this seminar which is against the norms of social welfare. So the students’ union considering the interests of the majority, request you to cancel the permission to host the seminar.”

The letter, which was forwarded to students by union members on WhatsApp, also gave a veiled warning to the principal: “If this request of ours is subject to cancellation (not taken into cognisance), we request you to grant permission to our seminar which will include the same kind of one sided ideologies.”

The NE Cell statement said, “We are appalled by the message circulated by the students’ union that claims that our event would ‘indulge (in) violence and spread misleading information among the students.’”

A student told The Wire, “Some of us received calls from the student body office bearers last night asking us not to attend the discussion as ABVP will resort to violence there.”

According to a source in the administration, the principal decided to cancel the event “after the student union members came to her office with police personnel from the Maurice Nagar station and some Intelligence Bureau officials who told her that ABVP members may resort to violence inside the campus if it is allowed to be held.”

The speakers called to the discussion included Pradyot Manikya Barman, the erstwhile maharaja of Tripura and also a petitioner in the Supreme Court against the CAA; Amrapali Basumatary from the department of English at Kirori Mal College, writer and independent researcher Leki Thungon, research scholar, trade unionist and activist from Assam Nayan Jyoti and deputy editor at The Wire Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty.

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The NE Cell statement particularly pointed out that two of the panelists are from the university where the students study. “Our speakers have years of experience and research to back any statement they make and but the union didn’t have any issue (other than) blatantly attacking their credibility.”

According to the speakers, while they were on their way to the college, they received a call from the private secretary of the principal informing them about the cancellation without citing any reason. The principal’s office also issued a notice announcing the cancellation order without specifying a reason. Copies of the cancellation order were sent to the SHO, Maurice Nagar, and advisor, students’ union, aside from the faculty advisor of the North East Cell.

Meanwhile, according to a faculty member at the college, teachers there will make an official complaint to the principal highlighting that her action were “highly discriminatory (towards the Northeast) and “against the values of a publicly funded college”.

A day after the event was cancelled, the SRCC students’ union circulated a statement arguing that the university administration – and not the union – had cancelled the event. The statement was sent to The Wire by an ABVP media advisor.

The statement says:

“1. The UNION DID NOT CANCEL THE EVENT. The decision of cancellation was of the college administration which was based on a lot of factors. One such factor was raised by the Students Union which was of the security of the students. When we got the information that outsiders from Jamia and JNU are joining the event cum protest, the union was concerned as no provision of security was provided for by the organisers.

2. Another concern of the Students’ Union was the conflict of information provided by the organisers in the permission letter and final poster. The concern is obvious, if an event which is supposed to be for information mentions in the permission letter that apart from the speakers, the audience would have more outsiders than SRite’s, it looks like a scripted conspiracy. The Students’ Union is of the firm belief that the prestigious platform of the college would never be allowed to be misused by any politically motivated group of students.

3. We are also of the belief that any event in our college should be a representation of all the views and especially on such sensitive issues when the students have clearly taken different stands, we would not want students to be divided further for anybody’s political motives.”

Note: This article was updated on January 24, 2020 with the students’ union’s response.