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“Cockroaches are Coming,” but Where are They Going?
India is witnessing one of the most significant waves of youth mobilisation in the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) tenure, and this momentum is worth supporting. This brings forth an opportunity to critically examine one of the movement’s most visible vehicles: the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). Consequently, while looking at the ongoing protest, it is worth closely inspecting the CJP’s role, and how it reveals far more about the boundaries of acceptable dissent in India than it doe
Aaliyah Nair
16 hours ago


A Case of Strange Bedfellows: The Hummus Trail and Apartheid
Eitan Gilboa, an Israeli soldier was found vacationing in Himachal Pradesh, India in early June 2026 when the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) filed a complaint with Indian authorities, seeking his arrest. According to the HRF, Gilboa was involved in the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza, which he recorded and posted on his social media. The state is obligated to investigate individuals accused of such crimes in line with the Geneva Convention. By the time the relevan
Suryansh Jalan
4 days ago


Ashoka Has No Space For You
Poorvi Sanath Kumar (UG’29) writes on the structural and resource limitations facing Ashoka University.
" We’ve seen already that the administration’s asymmetric ideas of expansion do not match what is needed by students living and studying here, namely an equal redistribution and expansion of classes and utilities," she writes.
Poorvi Sanath Kumar
Jun 23


First-Years and Student Politics: The Conditions That Shape Participation
By the end of my second week at Ashoka, I had learned two things: where my classes were and that my batch was already being judged for not showing up. The lack of participation in the Workers’ Protests early in Monsoon ‘25—and in other politically charged issues, including the Main Gate Infraction (MGI) policies and related campus debates—was read as indifference towards the broader Ashokan political sphere. But before attributing silence to apathy, it is necessary to examine
Niharika Ghosh
Jun 7


Maximum Delay for Minimum Wages
In light of the workers’ protests that took place earlier this year, the Haryana government notified a nearly 35% hike in minimum wages, effective from 1 April 2026. Under the revised rates, the daily wage for unskilled workers now stands at Rs. 582.4, for semi-skilled workers it stands at Rs. 645.41, while highly skilled workers are entitled to Rs. 747.14 per day. For the housekeeping staff at Ashoka University, the implications of this revision remained unclear; neverthele
Swasti Chaudhary
May 27


Clubs can't fix classrooms: Ashoka’s inclusivity needs to take the podium
As of Spring 2026, 0% of the Math Department and ~7% of the Computer Science Department consist of non-cis male faculty members. There are multiple student-facing affirmative action initiatives on campus, focused on gender inclusivity within students. For example, it is a convention to have at least one of the Computer Sciences representatives identify as a non-cis male, as confirmed by Manya Garg, UG25, who currently serves as one of the cs representatives. There also exist
Vedika Navani
May 14


Merit, Myth and the UGC Mandate: Our Focus Needs to Shift
In a country where caste discrimination ends academic lives before they have a chance to even begin, a policy designed to protect the most vulnerable has triggered anxiety for those already at the top. This is the paradox that has been unfolding following the announcement of the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) Equity Guidelines 2026 in January 2026. Framed as a long-overdue overhaul of the existing 2012 Anti-Discrimination Regulations, the new guidelines seek to enforce


The Making of the Kota Factory: The Topper Pipeline Case for Ashoka’s 2026 Undergraduate Scholarship
Ashoka University introduced 500 new scholarships for undergraduate intake in 2026. These scholarships, while crucial for bridging academic access across regions, also shape the kinds of minds most likely to enter Ashoka’s classrooms from the 2027 batch onward. At first glance, the increase in scholarships appears reasonable but there is more to what these scholarships look like. Previously, about 50% of Ashoka students received need-based financial aid (2021-2024) , making
Kaushiki Ishwar
Apr 1


The Architecture Of Invisibility
In December 2025, Ashoka University designated a dining space for its outsourced workers in the basement of an academic block. The space has four tables for a workforce of over five hundred people. Workers report that it is cold, poorly lit, rarely cleaned, and largely unused. Many continue to eat where they are posted instead of entering this ostensibly inclusive space. This dining facility did not emerge spontaneously. It followed months of meetings, inspections, and writ
Mehnoor Nisar
Mar 19


Rest in Peace, Professor
In Memory of Andre Beteille I did not know Andre Beteille in the ordinary way one knows a teacher. I never took walks with him, shared coffee on a porch, or spoke to him across a desk, as many who are writing memoirs now have. I came to Ashoka University after his years here had passed. By then, he existed for me only as an inheritance of a name I had encountered in texts, and then found on a board in the administrative block at Ashoka. But I think that distance is fitting fo
Madiha Tariq
Feb 16
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