Urdu title of theatre society changed by principal, allege Ambedkar college thespians

Students also alleged that other activity groups also changed names from Urdu to Hindi albeit there was no pressure from the college administration.
Students of BRAC who are part of the Ilhaam theatre society | express
Students of BRAC who are part of the Ilhaam theatre society | express

NEW DELHI: Members of a theatre society at the Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar College (BRAC) affiliated to the University of Delhi alleged that the college principal has changed the name of their collective from Ilhaam (inspiration) to Aarambh (beginning) for an apparent reason that the Urdu name sounds ‘unprofessional’.

“The theatre society at BRAC was asked to change the name of the society from Ilhaam to any other name. The reason was not stated to us verbally,” said a current member of the theatre society on the condition of anonymity. “The college also told us, if the group functions under this name then it won’t be recognised and no funds will be provided. Therefore we had no option but to change the name within a day.”

Students also alleged that other activity groups also changed names from Urdu to Hindi albeit there was no pressure from the college administration. “We’ve worked so hard to be at a place where we are today, we’ve fought so many battles just to exist and all of a sudden he is denying our existence. It’s just not with the dramatics society, so many other societies are facing the same problem just because of our names,” said Shreya Tyagi, 21, former member of Ilhaam.

Ali Fraz Rehvi, the founding member of Ilhaam said, “We formed this theatre society in January 2020. At that time we did used to get adequate funds and the college also organised regular theatre workshops for us. With the pandemic all theatre-related activities were stopped.” He further said, “When the college reopened, the newly-appointed principal R N Dubey pulled back all the funds, arguing that our group’s name was in Urdu and that is was inappropriate.”

Rubbishing the allegation against him principal of the college R N Dubey said, “These all are baseless allegations on me. This controversy has erupted at a time when soon a new principal will be appointed.” He further said, “I have been with this college since 1992, I never seen or heard about such a group. No group is registered in this name.”

The principal stated that he had no problem with usage of Urdu names. Dubey asked, “Why should I ban Urdu names when I used Urdu words in my daily life?” Ali Fraz Rehvi responded, “We acquired the funds during the tenure of the last principal and we organised various events during the annual festival. The previous principal witnessed and praised our performance as well. However, all of a sudden, we have gone non-existent.”

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