The curious case of DU's library being shut at night (or not): AISA, ABVP at loggerheads

Amarjeet Kumar Singh is a student in University of Delhi's Faculty of Law. A regular at the university's Central Library, he was surprised to see a certain notice pasted on its door on July 24. It said that the library, which is otherwise open throughout, will be closed from 8 pm to 9 am every day from that day. 

Now, this came as a shocker to Amarjeet and many others. They also felt that it was unfair, considering many research scholars study in the library at night. He and other AISA activists resisted the move, but the result wasn't in their favour. "The security guards threatened to throw us away from the library on the night of July 24. On July 26, some of us decided to study outside the library hall. But, we were forcefully evicted by the guards," says Amrjeet, an AISA activist himself. 

He also suspects a foul play by the ABVP, which rules the DU Students' Union. "A few minutes after the notice was pasted, DUSU President Shakti Singh tore it down. But the same night, we were asked to go out of the library at 8 pm. This could be a fake issue that the ABVP has created. They would want to resolve it just for name's sake, especially when the elections are around the corner," he says. 


The AISA activists have also met the proctor, the Students' Welfare Dean and the librarian to inform them about the same. "The librarian told us that the library will be open 24x7 from now on. But, there is no official notice. Also, we may get kicked out even today," says Kawalpreet Kaur, AISA Delhi President. 


At the same time, the ABVP had something extremely different to say. Siddharth Yadav, Delhi State Secretary, ABVP says that the library issue was resolved on the same day. "There have been demands for a 24x7 library for very long. Our delegation informed the Vice-Chancellor about the same and the administration began constructing new reading halls. One of them was closed for a few hours to get the renovation works done, but the issue got resolved already," he says. He also blames AISA for making a big deal of this issue. "AISA possibly wants to take the credit for this issue," he adds.