On 13 April, Professor Kanika Ahuja, Principal of Delhi University’s Lady Shri Ram College, appeared in a video posted on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s official Instagram page. In the video, she praised the Women’s Reservation Bill, calling it “a constitutional course correction.” Her appearance in the video has sparked protests across the campus, where the administration has consistently emphasised maintaining an ‘apolitical’ environment.
According to an LSR student who has wished to remain anonymous, the protests are about a much larger issue. The student claimed that Professor Ahuja, over the last year of her tenure as acting principal, has shown multiple affiliations with the ruling party.
She claimed there has been an overall “saffronisation of thought.” Further claiming that during Ahuja's tenure, LSR has increasingly invited more BJP representatives and spokespeople for various events.
The student also raised concerns about the online backlash surrounding the protests.
"It’s just sad because our images and images of the protests are being circulated, where we’re being called Pakistanis and terrorists."Anonymous student at LSR
The sheer volume of this backlash comes on the heels of Ahuja's video praising the women's reservation bill.
The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is a historical constitutional amendment seeking 33% women’s quotas in legislation. If the proposed changes are implemented, the overall shape and size of representation in Parliament will be fundamentally altered.
The Lok Sabha is expected to expand significantly; within this expanded House, one-third of the seats would be reserved for women, marking the first time such a quota was implemented at the national level.
However, the quota will only come into effect after the delimitation exercise proposed by the ruling party, which means that the reservation will not be enforceable till 2034. But critics have argued that this move is likely to benefit the regions where the BJP is currently stronger.
'Patronising Response to LSR Protestors': Alumnus
It is within this broader political context that protests at LSR have unfolded. In an Instagram post, Red Ribbon Gazette, LSR’s unofficial student magazine initiative, emphasised that the protest is directed against the Principal’s “hypocritical stance on apoliticality.”
Given her professional identity as LSR’s Principal, students argue that this implicitly links them to a political platform, which goes precisely against LSR's overall stance on neutrality.
In a brief interaction, Gurmehar Kaur, an alumna of LSR, said the issue extends beyond the video itself.
"Controversy isn’t the right way of addressing this. There are two destructive patterns we are seeing; one is the appropriation of academic spaces by right-wing forces, and the other is the trivialising, vindictive, and patronising response the protesters at LSR have been subjected to."Gurmehar Kaur, LSR Alumnus
Tanisha*, an LSR student actively participating in the peaceful protests, said, “We are not against women’s reservation. Everything she said in the video is absolutely correct. But the platform where the video was shared is the issue.”
The protest on Wednesday saw students holding placards that read “Saffronisation se azaadi.”
“We are called mobs and unruly, just because we are demanding something that the management does not like."Tanisha, Student at LSR
According to Tanisha, the Principal addressed the students in a closed-door meeting held on Wednesday, and stated that the video byte was originally meant for the Ministry of Women and Child Development, and that her consent was not taken by the BJP before it was posted on their page.
When students asked why no action had been taken to have the video removed, she responded, “I will try to talk to them,” a reply many students found unconvincing. She also requested that students comment under the reel, asking BJP to take it down. When further asked to issue a public clarification stating the same, she reportedly criticised the students for pressurising her.
Speaking to Indian Express on Wednesday, Ahuja said the views expressed were personal. “The views were shared in the video in an individual capacity…The participation was an exercise of personal opinion and does not constitute an official policy stance of LSR.”
Further, on students alleging that some speakers and events are restricted on campus so as to maintain its neutral stance, Ahuja claimed that the selection of speakers and organisation of events are decentralised processes at LSR and that the administration’s role is purely to facilitate a “safe and conducive environment” for these activities.
The students have presented a charter of demands to the administration and are still awaiting a response. These demands include the removal of the video from the BJP’s Instagram page, a public apology issued by the Principal and more transparency regarding any further communication between the administration and political representatives.
The demands further call for an end to “communalisation” on campus, along with stricter inquiry of invited speakers. Further demands underscore a concern surrounding the strict surveillance maintained by the administration on campus during protests.
(*Name has been changed to protect her identity)