On April 16, students of Delhi University’s Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) posted a sheet of paper outside their principal’s office that read, “We come in peace.” The note was framed with marigold flowers and roses.

For the past three days, a section of students at LSR has protested against Principal Kanika Ahuja after the Bharatiya Janata Party shared a video of her supporting the Women’s Reservation Bill on its official Instagram handle.

Students told Newslaundry that since April 15, protesters have begun covering their faces and referring to each other as “Basanti” to avoid identification and possible disciplinary action. They also reported police presence outside the college on the morning of April 17.

Every student Newslaundry spoke to requested anonymity, fearing targeting by college authorities.

The ‘apolitical’ paradox

“In our college, the word ‘apolitical’ is used like a weapon,” a student said.

She described how discussions around campus safety, caste, or national issues are often discouraged. “If students come together to talk about harassment at the back gate, we are told not to raise slogans because the college is ‘apolitical’. If the SC/ST cell discusses caste, that too is labelled ‘political’. Even in classrooms, certain questions are dismissed as ‘too political’.”

Students that Newslaundry spoke to said this stands in contrast to the principal’s video appearing on a political party’s platform.

“If she were speaking as an individual, that is still fine. But her designation as principal is mentioned, and she speaks about the students of this college. You cannot represent the institution and then call it a personal opinion,” another student said, referring to Ahuja’s statement to The Indian Express. “If this video had appeared on a Congress page, we would still have raised the issue.”

Ahuja was reported as saying that her participation in the video was in a personal capacity and rooted in gender justice, and that an “apolitical” environment does not mean disengagement from critical social discourse.

Students, meanwhile, maintain that their protest “has nothing to do with the Women’s Reservation Bill or the BJP, but with the forced ‘apolitical’ nature of the campus and what we see as the principal’s hypocritical actions”. Another student alleged that the controversy has led to online abuse, including being called “anti-national” and other slurs.

How the protest unfolded

The video was posted on the BJP’s Instagram handle on April 13. With April 14 being a holiday for Ambedkar Jayanti, they used the day to plan what they described as a “peaceful and indefinite” protest.

“We set clear ground rules – we will not harm anyone verbally or physically, we will not vandalise the college because it is our space. We even revised our demands to ensure they were respectful and doable,” a student said.

Students that Newslaundry spoke to claim that at 9 am on April 15, around 400 of them gathered near the lower foyer auditorium, raised slogans such as “Principal bahar aaiye”, and sang “If you want your answers, clap your hands”.

They alleged that access to the principal’s office was blocked and that faculty intervened instead of the principal addressing them directly. “We were told she would not come out, and that we were an unruly mob,” one student said, adding that they showed written demands on their phones in response.

The protesters then moved outside the principal’s office and waited for several hours. “We sat there for four hours in the sun,” she said.

According to students, the principal later asked for a meeting in the auditorium, which they declined. “We wanted her to meet us in the same space where we were protesting. We were also worried about being confined inside and facing disciplinary action,” one student said.

Students further alleged that some faculty members checked IDs and recorded protesters. A day later, on April 16 evening, a statement by students was shared on the Instagram page Red Ribbon Gazette, claiming that despite asking protesters to wait for a meeting from the morning, the principal left the campus around 5 pm without directly engaging with them. 

The statement claimed that some students followed her car in an attempt to speak with her, while asserting that the protest remained peaceful and that no physical confrontation occurred. A student told Newslaundry, “The administrative staff recorded us to again drive this narrative that we are a mob. It is only later that we realised that this may have been another tactic.”

‘We are scared, but brave’

Students said the issue extends beyond the video. They pointed to longstanding complaints about harassment near the college’s back gate. 

“We had repeatedly raised concerns about jackers – a term to refer to men engaging in public masturbation, but were told there were no funds for CCTV cameras. But during the protest itself, they installed new cameras to identify us,” one student claimed.

“There is fear, but also resolve,” another student said. “We are scared. But we are brave too.”

Students also took issue with the principal’s response to The Indian Express. They claimed that when they sought an apology, she maintained that she had recorded the video for the Ministry of Women and Child Development and that the BJP had uploaded it without her consent.

“We told her we stand with her if that is the case, and that the party should issue an apology,” a student said.

Students further alleged that the administration called the parents of union members who were liaising between the protesters and the college.

According to a notice sent by LSR’s Proctorial Committee to the Students’ Union on the night of April 15, the college cited a directive issued by Delhi University’s Proctor’s Office on March 23, 2026, stating that no protests, demonstrations, or assemblies are permitted on campus without prior approval from competent authorities. The notice adds that organisers must submit details and obtain written permission in advance, warning that failure to comply could lead to disciplinary action against organisers and participants.

Students that Newslaundry spoke to also pointed to a broader pattern of what they described as “saffronisation” on campus, citing instances where the administration invited BJP leaders to college events without prior notice and placed cutouts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on campus.

With the college’s annual day scheduled for April 20, some student societies have threatened to boycott the event if their demands are not met. Students claimed that the administration has warned that those participating in a boycott may not receive attendance for extracurricular activities (ECA).

The protesting students, meanwhile, have set a list of demands before the college administration. 

One, they demanded that the college clarify that their protest was not about the Women’s Reservation Bill but about the use of a political platform to broadcast the principal’s views despite LSR’s “apolitical” stance. Two, they have called for non-partisan political engagement on campus, action against online and on-campus harassment, and the removal of the video from the BJP’s platform with proof of such communication. Three, they also demanded that no disciplinary action be taken against protesters and that any recorded data or photos/videos identifying the students be deleted and not used against them.

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