Bid to screen BBC docu at DU aimed at creating chaos: VC

New Delhi: Delhi University Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh has said the attempts by some students' organisations to screen the controversial BBC documentary were aimed at creating "chaos" in the varsity and asserted that indiscipline on the campus will not be tolerated. In an interview to PTI, Singh said the DU was "open to collaboration" with foreign institutions and Universities while new courses are in the pipeline and infrastructure upgradation is top priority. "The motive behind (the screening) was to create chaos and cause indiscipline. They managed to do so as well," Singh said. "I will not allow such behaviour on the campus that is why a seven-member committee was constituted to investigate the matter," he added.

The Congress-affiliated National Students' Union of India and the Bhim Army Student Federation had last month said that they would screen the controver sial documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots titled 'India: The Modi Question' at different times in DU's North Campus. Commotion had erupted on the day of the screening on January 27 as police and university administration prevented the students' from going ahead. Twenty-four students affiliated with the NSUI were detained from the DU's Arts Faculty. The seven-member committee, headed by Chief Proctor Rajni Abbi, was constituted after the incident to investigate lapses in security and suggest ways to strengthen security on the campus.

The committee submitted its preliminary report on January 31 and it is holding talks with the parents of the students involved as part of its detailed investigation, the vice chancellor said. "The investigation is underway and very soon, the result will be out," Singh said. The two-part documentary claims it investigated certain aspects relating to the 2002 Gujarat riots when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief minister of the state. Talking about the upcoming session, Singh said, like last year, the university will conduct admissions through the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) this year too, however, the process will be much smoother as the university is well prepared. He also suggested that the CUET should be conducted twice a year. "Last time was the first time and we faced some issues. The ideal situation would be conducting CUET twice a year. The best performance should be considered and I am hopeful UGC will consider this," Singh said. According to the vice chancellor, despite taking several initiatives to fill all the 70,000 seats in the university, around 5,000 seats remained vacant last year. It was not due to the CUET, but because there are few courses that are not so popular and they end up finding few takers, he said.

"Earlier too, some seats remained vacant. In some colleges, the seats remained vacant in certain categories. In minority institutions too, seats remain vacant," he pointed out.

Last year, a row between the St. Stephen's College and the DU administration grabbed headlines as the college refused to accept the admission criteria prepared by the varsity, saying it was a minority institution.

The varsity had then allowed the the prestigious college to conduct interviews for admission of undergraduate students from the minority category. It was only after the order of the Supreme Court that the admission process commenced at the college as it conducted admissions for seats reserved for Christian candidates based on interviews.