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Delhi University is alive again with protests. From Gargi to Miranda and Ramjas, hundreds of young women have taken to the streets; on Wednesday evening, their voices reached the Delhi Secretariat, where a delegation met the administration and submitted its demands.
At the heart of the protest lies a simple claim: women must be able to walk freely through the city, and students must have access to safe accommodation near both the North and South Campuses, so that the daily journey to and from college does not itself become a source of harassment.
The question of accommodation has acquired a sharper edge in the wake of the Satya Niketan tragedy, where a building collapse claimed seven lives, including five Delhi University students. With hostel space already scarce, the demand for more rooms has once again come to the fore.
The ABVP, the student wing of RSS, campaigning on the hostel issue, won three seats in the 2026 DUSU elections, while newly elected Secretary Riya Chawadi, who has raised the issue of womenโs safety, also joined the September 28 protest.
The hostel issue seems to be the biggest challenge for young elected as it is now very much linked to women's safety as well.
Amid this larger agitation stands Hansraj College, one of DU's top colleges, where another question has remained unsettled since 2022.
That year, the college administration came under scrutiny over allegations that a gaushala was being operated on land meant for student hostels. Students protested against the arrangement, bringing the question of the collegeโs use of its limited land into public view.
Students took their protest to the college gates, and the controversy eventually subsided. But the question, it appears, did not disappear.
During our latest ground reporting, the India Today team found a cow shelter still operating on the same stretch of land where hostel facilities stand demolished.
For the students of Delhi University, the difficulty begins much before a building gives way. It begins with the simple arithmetic of a room that does not exist.
The university has 251,474 students enrolled in its conventional programmes, according to official figures. Against this vast student population stand merely 7,224 official hostel beds - 3,688 in college hostels and 3,536 in university hostels. Another 863 beds are expected to be added through hostels presently under construction.
It is against this arithmetic - between the student awaiting a room and the institution deciding how its land shall be used - that the story of Hansraj College must be read.
When the India Today team visited Hansraj College to learn abut the condition of student accommodation, the old hostel building had been demolished. The site is intended for new hostel buildings, with construction now underway.
The collegeโs own website says its hostel facilities accommodate more than 200 undergraduate students.
Older official hostel documents put the boysโ hostel capacity at about 200 students, while recent reporting says the existing facilities had capacity for roughly 200 male and 70 female undergraduate students.
Recent reporting on Hansraj says the two replacement hostels are expected to house between 560 and 600 students once completed.
The college administration has also indicated that the project is moving forward, though the completion timeline remains a matter of concern for students.
In the corner of the campus, immediately beside the demolished hostel area, a cow shelter could be seen with cows inside.
The sight recalls a controversy that began in 2022, when students objected to the establishment of the Swami Dayanand Cow-Protection and Research Centre at Hansraj College.
Students alleged that the centre had been built on land earmarked for a womenโs hostel.
The college administration rejected that claim.
Principal Dr Rama Sharma had then told media that the centre was established for research into cows and dairy products and that only one cow had been kept there at the time.
She also said the site was not suitable for a hostel and that the college intended to identify another location for the womenโs hostel.
The controversy did not end there. Students protested against the centre, arguing that hostel accommodation ought to be given priority. The administration, however, maintained that the facility was dedicated to research-oriented studies.
Inside the college where the cow shelter is currently operational, a board beside the cowshed describes the role of the cow in Indian civilisation and lists the purported nutritional benefits of cow milk.
The board further lists the following claims about cow milk:
A 300-millilitre glass of cow milk contains 350 milligrams of calcium.
Cow milk is also described as being rich in Vitamin A.
It states that the carotene found in cow milk helps maintain eyesight and is beneficial for the eyes.
The board further carries a section titled 'Benefits of Gaumutra', which makes the following claims:
Cow urine is described as being effective against several skin diseases, particularly when combined with turmeric.
It claims that consumption of cow urine can help reduce problems related to blood pressure.
It further claims that cow urine can be used in the treatment of cancer-related diseases.
Another section carries the heading 'Benefits of Gaumutra' and makes claims about its use for skin diseases, blood pressure and even cancer.
Hansraj College does have academic work connected to Vedic sciences and research, and the administration has previously maintained that cow-related products can form part of research and innovation.
But outside the research argument stands the student.
The question is not whether research may be conducted with cows. It is whether, at a university where tens of thousands of students compete for a limited number of hostel places, accommodation can remain a secondary concern.
The answer is nor found in the cowshed, neither in the demolished walls.
It lies in the empty rooms students are forced to seek elsewhere, and in the timetable for when those rooms will once again belong to the students of Hansraj College.
Four years later, our ground reporting returned to the same question - and found that the cows had not quite left the land where students were once meant to find rooms
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