Dyal Singh College students lash out at campus violence

Nearly 70 students of Dyal Singh (Evening) College marched on Friday demanding a “peaceful campus”. The protest was organised in the backdrop of an attack on BA (Programme) first-year student Ashish Beniwal on February 7. He was allegedly assaulted by three seniors with an ice-pick and glass bottles. The march asked for solidarity among students and raised concerns over increasing hooliganism on the campus.

“Such incidents of violence have become common during the festival season. Every fest is affected by such incidents,” said Ronak Singh, a political science student. Other students blamed outsiders for the violence and asked the administration to restrict their entry on the college campus.

Though the victim in the alleged incident said he was attacked because he belongs to a Scheduled Caste, the protesters refused to accept a caste angle in the attacks.

“This protest is not against any community or specific incident, but against the growing violence which can engulf anyone tomorrow,” said Tanuj Gaurav, from the political science department.

Beniwal has countered the police’s statement that the victim didn’t approach them. “We told them I was attacked because of my caste but they did not write that. They said my statement will be taken later, but nothing happened,” he said.

Tanuj added: “We came to the college to study and we need a healthy environment to develop our skills. There’s panic among students after such repeated incidents of violence and it affects our mental health.”

College principal Pawan Kumar Sharma did talk to a group of protesters, but the meeting left the students dissatisfied as he couldn’t guarantee an increase in security measures to prevent violence in the future.

“The administration has put the burden on us, to show our solidarity and prevent such incidents. It’s really sad that the college authorities can’t ensure students’ safety within the campus,” Tanuj said.