King’s College, London, elects Daniyal Ubaidullah from Kashmir as VP, Students Union

11 March 2021

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Srinagar, March 11: Daniyal Ubaidullah, a law student at the UK’s prestigious King’s College, London, a resident of Kashmir, has been elected as Vice President (Welfare & Community) for King’s College Students Union.

Confirming the result to Ziraat Times, an election organising committee member at King’s College said that Mr Daniyal got 606 votes, while his nearest rival, Ridwana Ahmed, got 285 votes. Diana Anikini and Cam Rose, two other key contestants, who got 166 and 110 votes up to stage 3 of voting, lost with subsequent negative voting.

Daniyal Obaidullah is currently a third year student of Law at King’s College and is holding a Bachelors in Sociology from the University of Delhi.

Mr Daniyal has also been a Student Union leader at his previous university, Hindu College, University of Delhi. The vice presidentship work at the King’s College is a full time, paid job.

Following are some of the main issues Mr Daniyal talked about his mission and work agenda in his manifesto:

Mental Welfare:

To tackle loneliness, depression and stress I plan on introducing a campus wide programme of peer to peer mental health support which will extend to King’s residences. I will make sure to arrange best in class professional training for volunteer students for this purpose.

Additionally, I will lobby the university to increase counsellors for on campus counselling services, so as to reduce waiting times for appointments, something research has shown to be one of the biggest roadblocks in university student mental health support.

Physical Welfare:

I plan on launching in collaboration with other officers in the Union a first of its kind Premier League style King’s Residences themed competitive multi-sports league, that will be played across the year with finals played towards end of the academic calendar. (Wolfson House Wolves vs Mighty Moonraker, how does that sound?)

Academic Welfare and Decolonisation:

Mentee-mentor scheme across all departments wherein volunteer seniors will have a chance to be picked by junior students as academic mentors for a whole year.

Lobby the university and run a university wide campaign for tangible efforts to decolonise the curriculum and provide teaching staff with relevant training to deliver teaching in an inclusive, decolonised and sensitive manner. A global university needs a curriculum reflective of its global student pool.

Financial Welfare:

No more dodging the question on fee rebate. I will vigorously in my capacity support the King’s campaign for fee rebate to all students who suffered from a lack of comprehensive university experience because of a shift to online teaching. In this regard I will collaborate not only with students within the university but seek to build bridges with similar campaigns in other universities like the one next door at the London School of Economics. Let us hold King’s financially accountable.

In addition to this I will lobby the university to breakdown tuition fee into further instalments for ease of payment. This enables better financial planning and decreases the burdens created by two heavy chunks of fee instalments.

Post Lockdown Strategy:

I will initiate a university wide programme to make up for all the fun and opportunities lost because of the successive lockdowns. This will include re-organising freshers, induction and other celebratory events for the incoming batch of 2020 along with the new incoming batch of 2021, so no one feels left out. The Covid-hit incoming batch of 2020 should know I am looking out for them, every moment!

Social Justice, Respect for Faith and Inclusivity:

I will particularly focus on providing SU support, guidance, platforms and media advice to all students who seek to strive against or raise awareness about global injustices on or beyond campus. Our university should be a theatre of student struggle for social justice. Let us empower our student activists to make that happen!

I will also put together a year-long free for all lecture series delivered by eminent scholars on colonialism which will raise awareness about this important facet of history and help students build bridges of conciousness and solidarity with one another.

Fostering true respect for people of different faiths, backgrounds and cultures should go beyond lip service. Among other steps, I will be lobbying the university for provision of suuficient prayer spaces in the Maughan Library and installing bidet showers in toilets across campuses for use by international students.

Desecuritisation of Campuses and Preventing ‘Prevent’:

Making sure the university takes a clear cut stance of distancing itself from and condemning legal provisions like Prevent which function to racially profile, snoop on and push into self-censorship Muslim students. In this regard, the Student Union under my leadership will publish in the public domain a clear SU Policy and best practice document for the university to follow.

Free Sanitary Supplies:

Expanding the free sanitary supply infrastructure at King’s by providing all female students free supplies through an increased number of stations installed on all King’s campuses.

Increased Disability Access:

Creating a campus environment that can be easily and increasingly used by people who have disabilities. This will in substantive terms include:

Changing attitudes within the Student Union and its initiatives to a more disability friendly one.
Changing the way we communicate with others.
Changing physical things, such as the structure of the spaces on campus and the formats in which the Students Union and the university presents information.