Delhi univs, colleges gear up to observe ‘surgical strike day’
NEW DELHI : Universities and colleges in Delhi are gearing up to celebrate “surgical strike” day on September 29 following an advisory issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
The day will mark the second anniversary of t he Indian Army’s strike at terror pods across the Line of Control (LOC) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) plans to organise lectures on the contribution of the armed forces in defending the country while Delhi University (DU) colleges will organise individual programmes.
Jaswinder Singh,principal of SGTB Khalsa College, said they would rope i n their NCC (National Cadet Corps) cadets to organise a demonstration of how to “defend the borders”.
“We will hold a demonstration of how such activities actually happen at the border and what our soldiers have to face. We will put up a dummy and students will attack it with the rifles they use for training,” he said.
JNU vice-chancellor (V-C) Jagadesh Kumar said the university would invite a retired army officer to deliver a lecture. “We would like to listen about their experiences and understand the situations they face while defending the country. This is a great opportunity for us to pay our tribute and gratitude to the defence forces,” he said.
Kumar, who is a member of UGC, however, said it is not mandatory for educational institu- tions to celebrate the day.
“This is only an advisory from the UGC and not a diktat. JNU is going to observe it since we are closely associated with defence forces. The degrees of six major defence institutions are given by JNU,” he said.
Principals at DU colleges, however, said the administration instructed them to observe the day.
“We have received instructions and we will follow. We plan to organise awareness campaigns to make students aware of sacrifices made by the armed forces. It’s very important to tell them how army personnel put their lives in danger at the borders while we sit comfortably in our houses,” Manoj Sinha, principal at Aryabhatta College, said.
The governing body (GB) chairperson of Dyal Singh College (morning and evening), Amitabh Sinha, said: “We organise all activities suggested by UGC. It’s a day of national pride and should be celebrated,” he said.
Officials at Lady Shri Ram (LSR) College and Bharti College, however, said they were yet to finalise a plan. “We will hold a meeting with our committees on Monday to chalk out the plan,” LSR principal Suman Sharma said.
Ahmed Azeem, public relations officer at Jamia Millia Islamia, said they had already informed their NCC team to organise events on September 29. “The NCC will plan and organise the event. They might take out a parade and demonstrations,” he said.