Some classes resume at the Law Faculty

 Some classes were held at Delhi University’s Faculty of Law on Tuesday after four days, said students and teachers.

The students were still able to shut down most classes despite the fact that number of students protesting over exam results have gone down.

“Today we have symbolically shut down the college after authorities tried to use force on us to get up from our hunger strike,” said Vimal, a protesting student.

The students also burnt an effigy of the DU vice chancellor on Tuesday.

The college has been shut since Friday because protesters entered the classes and disrupted them. On Friday, protestors locked up their dean, Professor Ved Kumari, in her office for an hour with two of her colleagues. They also broke windows at the Law Faculty old campus, some students said.

The protesters were not letting other students attend classes, a student said.
Students who are not on strike are divided on their stance. They felt sorry for the students who had failed, but also want the classes to go on.

Students who passed said that the highest percentage was 65% and the passing percentage was 45%. Most students got close to the passing percentage, barely 5% students got about 65%.

Ravita Singh, 2nd year law student, said, “What they (protesters) are doing will help us also because if we fail, we will also have proper re-evaluation of papers instead of just totalling of marks.”

Students’ main concern is their future in the field of law. According to the protesters, administration is playing foul: they have closed the library and administration room so that students who are not on strike feel uneasy.

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and Delhi University Students Union have been with the students on their strike since past two months. ABVP’s Ankit Singh Sangwan, general secretary of DUSU, said the unrest showed that the administration has failed, which is why DUSU has intervened.

As the vigor of the protest came down, protestors on Friday requested authorities to open the library and the administration room so that students could submit their exam forms.

But the library was later locked again, the protesters said. Law Faculty classes started one month late this year because the Bar Council of India, which is the authority on legal education in India, delayed admission of students who passed the entrance exam in 2016. They had also decided to scrap evening classes in the college, which also faced strong protests in the college delaying normal classes.