ABVP activists threaten DU Law Faculty Dean in presence of cops

The Dean of Delhi University Law Faculty, Ved Kumari was threatened by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists, in the presence of police officers on campus, while they were staging a protest over the detention list of students that was released on Wednesday.

A video went viral on YouTube on Saturday in which the former Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) president and ABVP activist Satender Awana were seen threatening Kumari, even as the police officers stood on silently.

According to the Dean, she was abused and threatened by the students who had failed to meet the attendance required to appear in the examinations. "They abused me in front of the police and even threatened me with dire consequences if they were not given the admit cards, and police did not even bother to stop them. Also, they destroyed my office property," Kumari told DNA.

Awana however alleges discrimination by the Dean. "There are some students who have 70 per cent or more attendance, still their names are on the list. Also, some students who had never turned up for the classes are not there in the list," he said.

"We have received a complaint from Ved Kumari and we will look into it," said DCP (North) Jatin Narwal.

Kumari, who took charge of the faculty earlier this year, claimed to have notified students repeatedly throughout the semester, that 70 per cent attendance would be a mandatory requirement to sit for the exams as per the Bar Council of India's (BCI) demand. She also arranged remedial classes for those who hadn't turned up for the first part of the semester.

"We have to stick to the rules of BCI. Everyone is required to complete 70 per cent attendance to appear in the exams. Some of these students who are demanding that they should be given admit cards have 10 or 15 per cent attendance. How can we allow them to sit for examinations?" she said.

Some students have also claimed that ABVP activists, backed by DUSU members, have been creating a ruckus at the campus for the last couple of months over different issues.

"A huge number of students had failed their exams during the last semester and were demanding that they be promoted to the next year. ABVP played a pivotal role in this protest. Not only have they intruded into classes in the last two months, they also asked teachers to leave, and locked buildings. This deprived students of taking their routine classes," said a third-year student at the faculty, wishing to remain anonymous.

"Now, they are threatening to not allow the faculty to hold examinations if they were not given the admit cards," he said, adding that if it happens then the students who have attended regular classes will be at a loss.

The list has names of 550 students from all three centres of Law Faculty — 230 from Campus Law Centre (CLC), 191 from Law Centre I and 129 from Law Centre 2 — who did not have 70 per cent attendance that the Bar Council of India (BCI) asks for. These students will not be allowed to give exams that start on December 20.

On Thursday, agitating students, along DUSU members, had staged a protest outside the Dean's office. Following this, some of them were detained by the police.