FACE TO FACE
‘College authorities come under political pressure’
Sanjog Gupta

Battle-lines are drawn for the election of a new set of office-bearers for the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU). The campaign reaches a feverish pitch amidst a virtual show of strength by the contesting parties for the DUSU elections scheduled to be held on September 6.

The weeks preceding the elections and a couple of days after the D-day, till the time the results are announced, the Chief Election Officer of Delhi University holds an important position. As the campaign for the DUSU elections becomes more vociferous, one person whose job becomes increasingly pivotal is the Chief Election Officer of Delhi University, Mr Rajiv Khanna.

His office is abuzz with activities. As every year, this year too, the announcement of the final list of candidates was preceded by high-drama as supporters demanding tickets for their candidates, stormed the Chief Election Officer’s office.

The handful of cops who were on duty, were clearly outnumbered by the student activists and it required the intervention of the Chief Election Officer to prevent things from getting out of control.

In all, 32 candidates are contesting for the posts of president, vice-president, secretary and joint secretary.

While 10 candidates each will slug it out for the posts of president and secretary, six candidates will be contesting for the posts of vice-president and secretary.

Prof. Khanna, who is a lecturer at the Faculty of Law, took up the honorary position, as a personal challenge. The ‘NCR Tribune’ caught up with Prof. Khanna on the day when the final nominations were being announced.

Who are the important people involved in regulating the electoral process in the university?

In holistic terms, all persons affiliated to Delhi University, including all principals, staff and the Vice Chancellor are involved in the process. But on the ground, I am overseeing the whole process and receiving valuable assistance from Prof. S.C.Jain (Chief Returning Officer) and Prof. D.S.Bedi (Additional Secretary).

The Delhi University seems to be in a state of chaos each time the DUSU elections are held. Why is it that the DU election machinery is unable to maintain order during this critical phase?

The problem primary lies in the lack of anticipatory ability of the local police. They take the DUSU elections lightly and do not consider its regulation as a priority. This time, the problem seems to have magnified, as even the usual standards are not being maintained.

During the whole of last week, we have not seen a single senior police official, not even a Sub-Inspector. This clearly indicates that the priorities of the local police lie elsewhere.

There was major chaos in my office compound today as people were trying to force candidates to withdraw their nominations.

I had to personally intervene and stop these goons from using muscle power to tilt election results in their favour.

During the DUSU elections, academic is one casualty, with students losing out on teaching time. How should the Delhi University minimise this loss?

The candidates for the DUSU elections can approach the electorates only during the college working hours. Therefore, the colleges are forced to devote some time to the campaigning process. However, the colleges of Delhi University have been advised to conduct the college union elections in conjunction with the timing of the DUSU elections in order to avoid duplication of student time.

At the same time, colleges have been asked to allocate specific days for campaigning purposes and space them out in such a way so as to minimise the loss of time to the students.

Another constraint that the electoral process seems to face is the low voter turnout. Are there any measures being taken to increase the voter turnout?

I don’t think that is an accurate assessment. We are expecting a turnout of about 45 per cent, which is almost as much as the turnout for college union elections. So I don’t consider that to be a problem.

There has been a major controversy over colleges granting re-admissions to students only for the purpose of meeting eligibility criteria for the elections. Indicatively, 12 out of the 42 candidates are from Swami Shraddhanand College, one of the main colleges accused of subscribing to this practice. Can you propose a feasible solution to this problem?

Even though it is impossible and unfair to restrict the re-enrolment of students for courses, there is a dire need for the university to regulate the admission procedures. The admission practices are being revamped every year but are not being adhered to by the concerned authorities.

The college authorities come under political pressure and give in to the demands of influential people, thereby, shunning the admission policies formulated by the university. Similarly, even though there are bodies such as the Dean of Colleges and the Dean of Students’ Welfare, which oversee the admission procedures, these cases are not brought to their attention.

Another solution that I can propose is to debar students from gaining admission for a second regular graduate course, and only allowing admission through correspondence. This will ensure that the students academic pursuits are fulfilled while avoiding the problem of students enrolling for a course to facilitate their political agenda.

What is the total cost that Delhi University incurs in conducting the DUSU elections?

The cost is minimal, which is all that I can tell you.

The maximum cost is incurred on the printing of ballot papers.

COURTS

PANIPAT
Three get life term for double murder
Tribune News Service

Panipat, September 2
The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr R. C. Bansal, today sentenced three persons to life imprisonment for a double murder that took place on March 30, 1996 at Samalkha, about 22 km from here. The convicts — Dharam Singh, Rajinder, both residents of Samalkha, and Ram Niwas, a resident of Jind — had killed Sadhu Ram and his wife on that day. .

It may be recalled that Karan Singh, a son of Sadhu Ram, had abducted the daughter of Dharam Singh. In a fit of rage, the trio had attacked the deceased with sharp-edged weapons and killed them.

CULTURE

Global contours blur in the art world
Tribune news Service

New Delhi, September 2
There has been a giant leap in the visual art world in the past five years. With internationalisation, globalisation and liberalisation in India, the art world too was bound to be transformed as never before.

After World War II New York became the benchmark for contemporary art even though cities like Paris, London, Tokyo, Johannesburg, Kassel, Venice, Madrid, Berlin etc saw a continued activity in the field. When New York chose to recognise the diaspora in mainstream exhibitions, the world changed, the margins became the focus and these marginalised artists were included in biennials, triennials and important museum exhibitions.

Curators began to look for “interesting”, “happening” artists. Shineen Nishat of Iran, Shezia Sikhander of Pakistan, Anish Kapoor of Indian origin, Mona Hatoum of Beirut, Zarina Bimji from Uganda, Alfredo Jarr of Chilean origin began to be considered serious mainstream artists and turned every curator’s darling.

The British movement using emerging artists began to recognise new art forms and concepts. The world began to change. The borders began to blur and new artists with new concerns began to emerge and get attention. Collectors, curators and writers too had new concerns, and with these young new trends, the art movement changed.

In India artists like Bhupan Kakker, Atul Dodia, Jitish Kaliat etc were invited to overseas shows by strong curators. The Tate Morden invited curator Gita Kapoor to present Bombay in the “Century City”, an exhibition focusing on the nine nerve centres of the world, thereby giving contemporary art from India an international platform.

The only `marginally’ interested in art from India sat up and began to notice what was happening in the sub-continent.

At the same time India as a country began to interest artists immensely. Artists from different parts of the world created work influenced by India in some way. Some spent time in India like Francisco Clemente who recently had a major exhibition at The Guggienhiem Museum in New

York while others visited occasionally, drawing ideas, concepts and idioms.

“Borderless Terrain” was born from these concerns. It was born from the need to show the amalgam that was happening with India at the centre. It became important to put together a show with those different cross-section of artists.

“Borderless Terrain” consists of artists of Indian origin living in India with an international exposure like Gautam Bhatia, Bharthi Kher, Samit Das, Meethu Sen, Abhay Gaekwad, Sanjay Sundaram, Suhasini Kejriwal, Shammi Banu and Kirti Arora.

The second category is of artists of foreign origin influenced by India in some way, like Lady Catherine Young, Simon Marks, Andy Townsend, Talha Rathore, Mark Boundain, Helen Geier, Clare Richards, Charles and Lindell Brown and Sanjeeva Liyanage.

Last but not the least are artists of the Indian diaspora who are battling for their existence in a place different from their origin like Rachel James, Allen D’ Souza, Annu Matthew, Jayashree Abhichandani, Amrit and Rabindra Kaur, Shelly Bahl and Avantika Bawa.

This show has been curated by Alka Pande who did her post-doctoral research at Goldsmith in London. Her exposure to all post colonial and international concerns made her the most sensitive academician and curator to handle this very explosive subject.

“Borderless Terrain” by Apparao Galleries opens on September 9 and will continue till September 14 at Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre.