“Joote se peetungi (I’ll beat you up with my shoe). Keep quiet.” 

This isn’t a dialogue from a television show or movie, or a snapshot of a fight on a street. It’s what Bharati Gore, the honorary director of the Delhi School of Journalism, said to students in a viral clip last month when they approached her with concerns about their college’s infrastructure and high fees. 

This incident epitomises all that seems to be wrong with the journalism school today. The problem lies far beyond infrastructure, placement and fees – students and alumni told Newslaundry about a culture of repression and a push for right-wing thought, almost to the exclusion of all else. 

In the words of one student, “It’s a saffronised madhouse.”

Last January when the Prime Minister was inaugurating the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, a mini consecration ceremony for the new temple took place within the hallowed corridors of DSJ. 

When curious students asked participants what was going on, they learned the event had been organised by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The RSS is the parent organisation of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has had the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya at the heart of its political campaigns for decades. It had spearheaded the rally that resulted in the razing of the 16th century Babri Masjid in 1992.

But the DSJ event wasn’t remarkable. 

Past and present students told Newslaundry they saw only Hindu festivals being celebrated on campus. As Himanshu Chauhan, a second-year undergraduate student, said, “The college tends to celebrate only certain Hindu festivals.”