A video emerged on Thursday, 7 April, of three students demanding the holding of offline open book exams by Delhi University (DU), in which one of them said that he was being harassed by the university administration, the police, and politicians.
"I am being harassed in every manner: DU has created a committee against me, there is political pressure, and my family is being provoked against me," one of the students, Divyandu Singh Yadav, said in the video.
Yadav, speaking on behalf of himself and the other two students – Amarinder Kumar and Kamal Tiwari – said that if their demands were not met, they would die by suicide on 9 April in the same location where the video was shot.
Yadav also said that a First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against him, which has "destroyed my life".
The students are said to be unreachable after the video was released.
Why Are DU Students Protesting?
Hundreds of DU students have been protesting at the Arts Faculty of DU’s North Campus since Monday, 4 April. They have been demanding that their semester exams be conducted online, instead of offline since their courses were also conducted online.
On Monday, a case was registered against five students under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant). A few other students were detained and then released.
Students said that the administration asked them to leave the campus otherwise "departmental and police action" would be taken against them.
This comes after DU announced that students in the second, fourth, and sixth semesters will be giving offline examinations from May, while those in the first, third, and fifth semesters are giving online open book exams.
Ever since physical classes were halted due to the pandemic, classes shifted online and so did the exams. Exams have been conducted in the open book online exam mode since 2020. Students only returned to campus in February this year.
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