Fights cut short Hansraj fest, police evacuate venue

Following a protest for fest permission at Hansraj College in Delhi University’s North Campus last week, the two-day annual fest Confluence '26 was abruptly shut down on Thursday after clashes broke out in the crowd just as singer Vilen was set to perform.‘Fest got over abruptly’Videos circulating online show outsiders throwing bricks and chairs at each other on the second day of the fest. Students who attended the fest shared that the artist was only allowed to sing for 20 minutes. “The fest got over abruptly. Police got involved since fights were happening in the crowd. Students were dancing on their own on the stage. There was also no checking of IDs and passes at the gate as planned and it was unsafe since there were a lot of outsiders in the campus,” Anjali, a second year history student from Miranda House, said. “The entry was open and there was no issue there. But when the artist came, we didn't find out because in 20 minutes the event was over since people had started fighting near the stage,” Suhani, a second year psychology student from Laxmibai college said.Crowd exceeded expected capacity: Hansraj Students' Union PresidentPresident of the Hansraj Students’ Union, Abhijeet Singh said that the majority of chaos and fights were ensued by outsiders with the intent of lobbying. “Throughout the whole night, me and the Union were awake securing barricades for safety arrangements, however, on the day of the fest the crowd exceeded expected capacity. We tried our best to help the students and the artist performance was thereafter conducted smoothly,” he told DU Beat, a student-run online portal. DUSU President had to shut down the fest: StudentsAryan Maan, DU Students’ Union (DUSU) president was also present at Confluence. Students share that when the situation got out of hand, he asked the performance to stop. “Entry mein koi nahi rok raha tha, jitni entry ho sakte the gate pe kara rahe the. Outsiders and other college students were there who started creating a ruckus near the stage which is why the fest got over early. Aryan Maan was on stage and he asked people to shut down the fest and evacuate,” Muskan, a second year psychology student, who was at the fest shared.I was informed by management beforehand: Singer VilenVilen, who was set to headline the fest, shared his perspective on the situation on his Instagram story on Saturday and said, "Hume management ne pehle hi agaah kar diya tha ki iss prakar ki koi situation ho sakti hai, toh aap logon ko 2 minute ka ho ya 5 minute ka, hum bolein exit karne ke liye toh exit kar jana. Although mujhe pehle hi bol diya gaya tha ki exit kar jao, maine kaafi der tak kheench diya uske baad bhi, lekin ultimately unhone mic hi cut kar diya, toh hamare paas koi chara nahi tha. Although I understand ki safety reasons the, lekin bada dukh lagta hai ki na hum kuch kar paye, na bachhon ki expectations meet ho paayi. (The management had already warned us that a situation like this could arise, so if we ask you to exit—whether after 2 minutes or 5 minutes—you should exit. Although I had already been told to leave, I stretched it as long as I could, but ultimately they cut the mic, so we had no choice. I understand there were safety reasons, but it’s disappointing that we couldn’t do anything and the students’ expectations couldn’t be met.)"He urged students to maintain discipline to respect the artist's efforts in further performances at college fests. "Bas yahi kehna tha ki jab bheed mein ho, toh thoda sabhya tareeke se rehna chahiye kyunki kabhi bheed ke samay chot zyada bhi lag sakti hai. Yahi koshish karna ki aisi situation mein inn cheezon ko badhawa na do. Aage koi bhi fest ho, toh koshish karo ki kisi artist ka pura set ho jaye, varna bada bura lagta hai. Hum jis cheez ke liye aaye hain, itni mehnat karke, woh poori nahi ho paayi. (I would just like to say that when you’re in a crowd, try to behave responsibly, because people can get seriously hurt in such situations. Please try not to escalate things like this. In any future fest, make sure an artist can complete their full set—otherwise it feels very disheartening. We came here after putting in so much effort, and we couldn't complete what we came for.)"