GIRL STUDENTS SAY THEY WANT TO PROTEST SEXIST RULES, BUT ARE BOUND BY AN UNDERTAKING THAT PREVENTS THEM FROM TAKING PART IN ANY PROTEST OR AGITATION
“We do feel unsafe,” says Anvesha, as we start to walk down from the amphitheatre to her hostel. At 7.50pm, it’s pitch dark, and street lights are missing for a few stretches that lead up to the main gate of MMV.
As the group finds its way with mobile torch lights, they argue that restrictions on women in public spaces only reinforce the notion that by “being out in the night, the woman is at fault”. Why not provide us proper security instead, so that we can move around safely, the girls ask?
Last May, when a resident of the Triveni hostel for post graduate girls was chatting with her male friend on campus, the two were attacked by a group of miscreants, who passed “sexist’ comments and beat them up too.
When the incident came to light, girls from the Triveni hostel protested outside the Vice Chancellor’s residence. “Several girls sat outside the VC’s house through the night. But he came out only by the evening of the next day. Instead of addressing our concerns around safety, and the frequent incidents of eve-teasing on campus, we were told that this was not the right behaviour. Admonishing phone calls were made to our parents about our participation in the protest,” says Princy, who was part of the protest.
Some students feel that the administration’s tepid response to women’s concerns around security, coupled with incidents of moral policing involving senior officials has only served to constrain women’s freedoms more than ever.
Girl students contend that they want to raise their voices against the absurd restrictions, but are bound by an undertaking at the time of admission, which prohibits them from taking part in dharna-pradarshan (protest/agitation) on campus.
Despite the undertaking, however, many girls in BHU have been part of protests against tuition and mess fee hikes. “If you do this a lot, you might end up in the ‘defaulter’s room’ in the hostel. You will also be told that leadership qualities are not needed here. This is not JNU or DU’,” says Geetika. Which is why Anvesha and Geetika can only tacitly support the ongoing “library movement” on campus.
The “library movement” refers to the students’ agitation over a decrease in the hours of operation of the 24X7 cyber library. The agitation started in May, when a few students approached the administration to demand the opening of the cyber library. The library was started in 2013 for the benefit of “poor students” who didn’t have a place to study. But in November 2014, its hours of operation were reduced to 16.
This was done because of “misuse” of the facilities by some students. “It’s very expensive to run a library for 24 hours. The resources and staff of the library need some rest too,” says Tripathi.