When the college authorities at Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar College, which is affiliated to the Delhi University, asked the students of its theatre group to change the name of the group from Ilhaam to Aarambh, it gave rise to a controversy. Though the students of the theatre group complied unwillingly and changed the name, student organisations like AISA (All India Students’ Association) decided to stand against this.

“The Urdu name Ilhaam did not go down well with the principal of the college, Dr RN Dubey. And he asked the students to change it. He hasdone this before. So, we just wanted to take up the issue as a solidarity call with the theatre group students. Seven members of AISA, including four girls and three boys, went to meet the principal and submitted a memorandum against this decision of name changing,” alleges Shreya, a member of AISA and student at DU, who was a part of the seven-member team.

“We were not allowed to meet the principal and police was called on the scene. Policemen arrived and took us to the Bhajanpura police station at about 1 pm. They detained us there till 8:30 pm. And they also interrogated us. First of all, we just wanted to submit a memorandum, and there was no protest on the agenda. That is why only seven of us had gone to the principal,” she added.

“At the police station, they noted down out details but even after that they did not let us go. It is the law that female students cannot be detained after sunset, but they kept us there. A student from the first year asked for a sanitary napkin, but she was denied. They even clicked our photos without our consent. Then we were taken to Jyoti Nagar Police Station, where we were detained again till 9.30 pm. Lawyers came up to speak for us and only after that did the police let us go. We asked them to delete the pictures they had taken without our consent and gave them a group picture instead,” she said further.

It has been informed by Shreya that Ali Fraz Rezvi, who is the Co-founder of the theatre group, was also detained by the police. However, the members of the group were attending classes when the seven students went to submit the memorandum to the principal.

EdexLive had earlier got in touch with the principal and he denied any knowledge of the theatre group or his involvement in the name-changing incident.

Shreya said that after the police detention, no protests are being planned. The students are busy with the upcoming exams.