Panel constituted to probe claims of DUSU office vandalism submits report

The DUSU elections are usually held in September every year. However, a delay is likely this year with CUET (Common University Entrance Test) results yet to be declared, which has affected the start of a fresh academic session.

The panel has also recommended that the losses incurred during the incident should be “recovered from DUSU funds or personally” and that the “two supervisors on duty that night should be suspended”.

A fresh tussle had erupted between the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) amid allegations over DUSU chief Tushar Dedha’s office on July 14.

The panel has also insisted on “strict compliance of Lyngdoh Committee recommendations like no use of posters– handwritten or printed.” The videos of the alleged vandalism were widely circulated on social media.

In a statement, RSS-affiliated ABVP had lashed out at the Congress’s student wing. “On July 14, around 3 am, about 40 NSUI goons – including DUSU Vice President Abhi Dahiya, Yash Nandal, Raunak Khatri, Siddharth Sheoran – attacked the office at Delhi University’s North Campus and vandalised the office of DUSU president Tushar Dedha, the visitor room of DUSU secretary Aparajita and the office of DUSU co-secretary Sachin Baisla. The idol of Lord Ram kept in the office of the DUSU president was also broken in this attack. The water dispenser kept in the visitor room of DUSU among other things was broken,” it claimed.

DU proctor Rajni Abbi earlier told The Indian Express, “Primarily until now, we have found the DUSU president’s office was vandalised. Several cans and liquor bottles were found at Vice-President Abhi Dahiya’s office. The guard has given his statement…”

Meanwhile, The Indian Express further learnt that this year, four DU colleges — Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College, Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, Mata Sundri College for Women, and Sri Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College — presented a representation stating, “As per the decision of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, it has been decided to disassociate our four Khalsa Colleges from DUSU henceforth.”

Officials at the varsity stated that no reason was provided by these colleges and that this decision had been floated through the governing bodies of the respective colleges.