Defying court order, they plan to launch Jashn-e-azadi against varsity administration

The row over the implementation of semester system in all courses of Delhi University (DU) seems to have no end in sight with teachers deciding to go ahead with their protest despite Delhi High Court order to stop it.


On strike: Delhi University teachers.

The Joint Action Body (JAB) of teachers has now begun its 'freedom movement' against what they term as dictatorship of DU administration. Calling their movement as Jashn-e-azadi, the teachers have decided to defy the HC order and start their protest from tomorrow morning from the V-C's office.

"No court order can stop us from demanding what is our right. The university-hired bouncers in meetings or threats from higher authorities are not going to suppress our voices. The university officials including the V-C are doing a shoddy job of trying to put the semester system in place," said Abha Dev Habib, professor of physics at Miranda House.

The teachers' body will also be joined by the students in their 'azadi' campaign. "There simply is no other option. Far from becoming even marginally complicit in a process (semester system) that is as yet undecided and clearly grossly wrong, we need to keep up the fight," said Karen Gabriel, professor at St Stephen's.
The teachers have also coined a slogan 'Fear over DU: freedom and education besieged' for this movement. They also maintain that Delhi University Teachers Association has been under sustained attack even as individual teachers continue to be threatened, harassed and intimidated in an unrelenting bid to frighten them into silence.