St Stephen’s boys’ club under fire for promoting VDay oath on ‘misogyny’

NEW DELHI: More than four-decades-old tradition of taking a pledge on Valentine’s Day to promote misogyny by residents of one of the hostels at Delhi University’s St Stephen’s College has come under criticism from a students’ group for allegedly being against women and promoting philandering.

Students staying at the Allnutt North hostel block, who are part of Allnutt North Gentlemen’s Association (AGNA), have a longstanding practice of taking an oath as part of a ceremony on February 14. Members of Pinjra Tod alleged that the St Stephen’s students promote “misogyny”.

“We the people of ANGA, have solemnly resolved to constitute ANGA into a paramount egalitarian fellowship and to secure to all its members justice, social, sexual and sentimental liberty to philander exclusively with men, equality of status and opportunity and to promote among them all misogyny assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity of ANGA,” the oath read as per a statement from Pinjra Tod.

However, an ANGA representative said that they have omitted the controversial words from the oath. Pinjra Tod said that the hostel residents took the oath “… forgetting that the entire structure of the ceremony comes from a tradition and history which has for centuries oppressed, ridiculed and structurally discriminated against women.”