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College campuses, students and outsiders: three’s a crowd
Often canvassing support for one political outfit or the other ahead of PU’s student polls, outsiders at have become a bit of an eyesore for the students at Chandigarh colleges
As campus politics heat up in the run up to the Panjab University Campus Student Council (PUCSC) polls, chances of one running into an outsider on the college campuses across the city have also shot up.
Often canvassing support for one political outfit or the other, they have become a bit of an eyesore for the students and the college authorities.
Even on Tuesday, which was a holiday to mark Guru Ramdas’ birth anniversary, the DAV campus in Sector 10 was still lively, with members of various political parties dotting the entrance gate. While the Sector 3 police station has set up a checkpoint right opposite the entrance, rashly-driven jeeps with party stickers could be seen speeding by at regular intervals.
Police officials said only students living in hostels were allowed inside the campus. On the other side of the gates, a student says he had gotten accustomed, but not entirely comfortable, to the sight of crowds, the speeding cars, the odd fights and arguments that break.
At Goswami Ganesh Dutta Sanatan Dharma College, Sector 32, outsiders have also disrupted normalcy. Chirag Batra and Nikhil Bansal, both enrolled at the college, say many students feel that outsiders are crowding the campus even as the outfits based out of their own college are treated unfairly.
“College authorities misbehaved with the college’s own parties. A recent three-hour protest to disallow outsiders from campus saw several students not involved in politics participate. Student elections do not bring around a lot of change, and we don’t want to see brawls and violence on our campus,” the duo added.
Indian National Students Organisation (INSO) leader from DAV-10, Aashish Phogat says authorities need to toughen up the act against outsiders, “While checking ID proof at the entrance is a must, in case there is any suspicion there is a server room right besides the gate where the roll number of a student can be checked to verify the identity.”
Presidential candidate at the SD college representing the Sanatan Dharam College Union and Sanatan Dharam Hostel Union, Ritik Shukla, echoes the sentiment, saying, “While the college’s own party faces the authorities’ ire, parties which bring on members from Panjab University are given a free hand at roaming around the campus.”
In the face of chaos, authorities have been forced to get extra help with crowd control. DAV-10 principal Pawan Sharma says, “We have hired four bouncers for the election period. Nobody is allowed to enter the campus without photo ID proof as we have had problems with outsiders instigating the students in the past.”
The problems are more complex for all-girls colleges. Principal of the girls’ college in Sector 42, Nisha Aggarwal said, “From Wednesday, entry for outsiders had been strictly banned. Boys especially are not allowed inside the campus, and the students must carry their ID cards with them to enter.”
Another city college principal, not wishing to be named, meanwhile, offered a quick reminder that while college authorities are trying their best to keep a check on outsiders, the UT administration must chip in with support to help keep campuses conducive for its students.
