AISA protests DU’s new 72-hour approval rule for campus gatherings, calls it curbs on dissent

New Delhi: A day after Delhi University issued a directive mandating 72-hour prior permission for any protest or gathering on campus, the Left-backed All India Students' Association (AISA) rejected it, describing it as an attempt to "strangulate progressive voices".

On Monday, the university issued the notice mandating that organisers must submit a signed hard copy of their application to the proctor's office and the concerned local police authorities, including the deputy commissioner of police and station house officer of the respective area.

Delhi University (DU) Proctor Manoj Kumar Singh had said the application, including details such as organiser's name, college or department, contact details, nature and duration of the event, logistical requirements, list of speakers, and expected number of participants, must be submitted 72 hours before any assembly, gathering, protest, sit-in, march, procession, or similar activity on campus. Referring to the notification, AISA said in a public statement, "By mandating a physical application to be submitted 72 hours before any gathering, march, or protest, the administration has officially institutionalised a 'Permission Raj' designed to strangulate progressive voices."

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This is a blatant attempt to restrict the democratic right to assembly and a desperate reaction to the growing movement for social justice on campus, the student body said. The university directive had come days after a one-month ban on protests imposed by the university on February 17, following a student march that turned violent on the north campus during which a female journalist was allegedly assaulted. AISA further alleged that the notification is a direct extension of the administration's continuous attempt to curb dissent and an attack on the right to protest, which is a right granted by both the University Grants Commission and the Constitution of India.

"In recent months, the students of Delhi University have demonstrated an unwavering spirit of defiance through mass mobilisations for the Rohith Act and by reclaiming intellectual space through the People's Literature Festival (PLF)," AISA said.