“No student should be punished for exercising their right to free speech within the university space. Students are the future of our country and if we do not allow them the opportunity to critique, comment and develop their own voice, we set up our country for a bleak future where people will lack the courage to stand up against injustice…” Sisodia wrote.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday directed the administration of Ambedkar University to revoke a fine of Rs 5000 slapped on a student after she criticised the Delhi government during the online convocation.
Neha, a final semester M.A. Performance Studies student, had been issued the fine on June 30, which she had to pay to be able to sit for her final exams.
Deputy CM and education minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, intervenes after learning about an episode wherein disciplinary action was going to be taken against a student of Ambedkar University for expressing her view against Arvind Kejriwal and him. @ThePrintIndia pic.twitter.com/nxZ8pN0w0X
— Aneesha Bedi (@AneeshaBedi) July 5, 2021
During the online convocation, she had posted comments on the YouTube live streaming link to protest against AUD’s admission policy, including fee hikes and alleged discrimination against SC/ST students. While the proctor’s order stated that she used “slur/distasteful remarks”, she maintains that she was singled out and she was one of the dozen other students who were part of the online protest, The Indian Express reported.
In a letter to Delhi’s Principal Secretary Higher Education, Manish Sisodia said “Firstly, no action should be taken against any student for expressing a viewpoint that is different from the Government or the University, unless the said statement damages the social fabric of our country or is against our constitutional values. Secondly, since the student was expressing her viewpoint against the government, as being reported in media, the matter should have first been brought to our notice before initiating any action against her,”
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He went on to write about the importance of free speech in universities.
“No student should be punished for exercising their right to free speech within the university space. Students are the future of our country and if we do not allow them the opportunity to critique, comment and develop their own voice, we set up our country for a bleak future where people will lack the courage to stand up against injustice… If voices of criticism and dissent cannot be expressed against political leaders in our country, then we are no longer a democracy but a dictatorship,” Sisodia wrote.
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