DU to hold exams today for over 1 lakh students on Eid

New Delhi: A day after Delhi High Court granted relief to minority and other students of the law faculty, allowing them the option to skip exams scheduled on Bakrid, Delhi University on Wednesday said examinations for all other students will be held as scheduled on the public holiday.Around 1.5 lakh students are slated to appear for examinations on Thursday, which the university has declared a holiday in line with a ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions office memorandum. Of these, roughly 3,000 students from the law faculty have been granted the option by the court to either appear for the exam or take it at a later date after July 4, at a prior notice of one week by the university.A group of students led by Left-backed All India Students’ Association (AISA) held a protest outside the examination branch on Wednesday, alleging that students were being forced to choose between their religious observance and examinations. The protesters were later dragged away and removed by security personnel. Videos on this have surfaced online.Controller of examinations Gurpreet Singh Tuteja told TOI that, as per current instructions, exams for only law faculty students will now be conducted after July 4. “The rest of the students will have to appear for the exam as usual, and the university is preparing for duty tomorrow,” he said.Tuteja said postponing the examination for all 1.5 lakh students would disturb the academic calendar and delay results for a large number of students beyond July, by when classes for the next semester are expected to begin.“Students will be stuck and will have to wait for their ongoing semester results. This time we are also holding exams on Sundays, so there is no in-between time to accommodate the examination scheduled on Eid. It will have to be held after all exams are over. Since the court has ordered it, we will have to manage for a limited number of law faculty students, about 3,000, but postponing the exams for all will create management problems,” he said.Rajya Sabha MP Syed Naseer Hussain has written to the Union education minister, saying that Muslim students were being “compelled to appear for examinations on a day when they observe one of the most significant occasions in their faith”. He sought urgent intervention.Calling the university’s decision to hold exams on a holiday for Eid “internally inconsistent” and “ethically indefensible”, Hussain wrote: “It compels Muslim students... to choose between their faith and their academic standing -- an unconscionable position for a public institution.”“Conducting examinations on an officially declared religious holiday is inconsistent with the constitutional values of secularism, inclusivity, and equal treatment of all religious communities. It is also inconsistent with the university’s own administrative decision to grant the holiday,” the letter said.Several executive and academic council members have also submitted representations to the VC, flagging similar concerns.