The South Asian University (SAU) in Delhi has asked that students vacate the Akbar Bhawan hostel and sign an undertaking agreeing to assist in extreme situations, such as arranging for their own internet, food, water, and other necessities if disruptions occur. "Most students left the hostel, and others had to sign this insensitive undertaking," says Sandra Elizabeth, a student at the institution. The Student Federation of India (SFI) of SAU has released a statement condemning the decision calling it "autocratic".
What happened?
The administration of SAU has decided to move the university to its permanent location in Maisangarhi, Chattarpur. Despite offering online courses for the past two years, students claim that no progress has been made on the relocation process. Before this, SAU had been operating out of the Akbar Bhawan office of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) since its inception in 2010. The switch to online courses was partially due to the pandemic and partially to facilitate the move to the new campus.
Since the offline classes resumed in August 20222, the university has once more decided to hold classes in a hybrid format from January 11 to February 3, 2023. This is because the Akbar Bhawan will be solely under the ownership of the MEA from January 1, and the administration must vacate the building by December 31, 2022. "Students have either been asked to leave or sign the undertaking. We have paid over Rs 30,000 for a full-time offline course, and instead, we are compelled to settle for an offline one and accommodate ourselves in an extreme situation," says Sandra.
What does the undertaking say?
As per the undertaking, a student will have to agree with the following in case of any disruption:
The students demand a seamless transition into the new campus without further delay and do not wish to shift to an online mode of learning. "We believe the students will not be called back any time soon. This way so many people will lose out on their lab and field work which is not possible online," adds Sandra.
SFI releases a statement
SFI says in its statement that the university administration has repeatedly failed to live up to its promises and calls the process of shifting a farce. They state, “This time, the banality of thin promises turned out to be a situational reality but only to add on to the pondering challenges faced by the students due to administrative incompetence…(the university) failed to be transparent about the information related to shifting, which happens to be a regular affair.”
The statement also states that the students were only informed of the institution's plans to relocate and to provide accommodation for those who lack the means to return to their home countries when they intervened. “Around 50% of the students are international students who might not be able to relocate that easily if the university will shift to online mode education again,” informs Umesh Joshi, one of the students who was expelled from the university recently without proper proceedings.
He adds, ”This is the institute's way of asking the students to not question the authorities and manage things on their own even if it meant such extreme conditions.” SAU was a result of a dream collaboration between the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) member countries. The university offers Master's and PhD courses to students from all eight SAARC members who recognise these degrees.
Other issues at SAU. Is this a means to suppress voices?
To recall, the university campus was embroiled in several protests for various reasons. Among them was the demand for an increase in scholarships. In the process of the protest two students were expelled, two were rusticated for one year, and another student was suspended for one semester. Umesh informs five more students have been issued show-cause notices at the fag end of November.
“We have been declared out of bounds from the campus, and as far as we understand, these students won’t be allowed to register for the next semester unless committee proceedings are concluded, which won’t get set up till the new building is built. So, this is just a way to harass students and delay the process such that no one will again dare to question them or question them in a way that we did,” says Umesh. The students have been threatened with expulsion and rustication, and now they claim the lack of students on campus will further suppress the voices.
