First time in 30 years, more than 500 from St Stephen’s College boycott classes

The students gathered around 10.30am on the Andrews Court area of campus with posters, banners, tambourines and umbrellas and read the Preamble to the Constitution.

On Wednesday morning, slogans of azaadi (freedom) and inquilab (revolution) rang through the corridors of St Stephen’s College along with words from Preamble to the Constitution of India.

Students from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University (DU), hold a banner and raise slogans during a protest march in solidarity with Bharat Bandh, and against attacks on students, CAA, NRC and NPR, at DU, in New Delhi, on January 8, 2020. (HT PHOTO)

Armed with posters, students of St Stephen’s, who usually shy away from political issues, boycotted their classes on Wednesday — after almost around 30 years — while voicing their dissent on issues ranging from the Citizenship Amendment Act to violence on university campuses.

The students gathered around 10.30am on the Andrews Court area of campus with posters, banners, tambourines and umbrellas and read the Preamble to the Constitution. Around 500 students and teachers, with women protesters at the forefront, attended the meeting that was held to talk about current issues, including violence against students and CAA-NRC issue among others.

While students said they had been campaigning and mobilising for the meeting for over a week, the turnout number was unexpected even for them.

“Though the turnout at the recent general body meeting in college looked promising, we didn’t expect this kind of support ,” said Umara Zainab, 20., a third-year student of History.