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BHU not an isolated incident. I too saw harassment in a UP university

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Swapnil Saraswat
Swapnil SaraswatSep 29, 2017 | 12:33

BHU not an isolated incident. I too saw harassment in a UP university

A group of girls were beaten up brutally in Banaras Hindu University (BHU) last week because they were courageous enough to raise their voice against sexual harassment.

Trouble began after a girl, who was harassed near her hostel on the campus by two-bike borne men, chose to complain about the incident to the authorities. In keeping with a misogynistic tradition, instead of nabbing the accused, the authorities asked, "what was the girl doing out so late in the evening". The curfew time for BHU's female hostellers is 8pm.

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The incident has left me enraged because it has reminded me of the curbs imposed on me as a female student in Agra, pursuing a Master's course in 1999-2000. Women students were allowed to stay out of the hostels only for 12 hours every day between 6am and 6pm. No matter what the urgency, we had to report back to the hostel by 6pm. Once the curfew timings were imposed, an assembly was held and our attendance was taken by the matron.

The university had girls pursuing professional courses such as MBA, BBA, Journalism, Biotechnology, Microbiology, Biochemistry, and Environment Science. We aspired to have full-time careers and create a niche for ourselves. The course schedules were rigorous. We had assignments, practicals, presentations, seminars and workshops as part of the curriculum that required us to step out of the hostel premises but we were supposed to finish off everything within the 12-hour window. No such restrictions applied to the boys.

Shockingly, these restrictions are still in place at the university's girls' hostel. It is unimaginable that a girl who has the right to vote, right to marry and pursue an advanced PG course can't be out of the hostel after 6pm on the grounds of safety. Nothing has changed in all these years. 

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BHU vice-chancellor GC Tripathi said that he can't be expected to listen to each and every girl.

When I was a student at the university, BJP was in power. Various parties, including the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, have formed governments in Uttar Pradesh since then with the BJP now back in power. However, the curfew timings for the girls haven't changed. This clearly shows that these restrictions are not about which party is in power but about mentality. This mindset says, if girls do not want to get raped, sexually harassed and stalked they should not step out of the "safe confines" of their hostels or homes after 6pm. And god forbid, if something happens to her, then obviously the responsibility is on the girl because we can't question our government, police or administration for having failed in its duty to make the country safer for women.

At the level of the society, parents, teachers and relatives have thousands of rules and dos and don'ts for the girls but they never bother to sensitise the boys about the fact that women are humans too.

Giving a clean chit to himself, BHU vice-chancellor GC Tripathi said that he can't be expected to listen to each and every girl. But sexual harassment is not the personal problem of a handful of girls. It is a horror faced by each and every girl. So he must listen, take action and make the campus safe for every girl.

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The police department can't shrug off its responsibility and beat up girls who are only demanding a harassment-free campus. It is not a Left-Right, BJP-Congress or SP-BSP tussle. All governments have to ensure women safety. Those who tell girls "jamana kharaab hai" (the world is a bad place) have failed in their responsibility.

Instead of turning hostels and homes into jails for girls, we need to put criminal elements in jail. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath must realise that BHU got the media attention because the girls chose to speak up and Varanasi happens to be Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency but such harassment is common to all universities. Adityanath must listen to his conscience and rise above politics.

This Dusshera, he must promise the girls to crush the Ravanas who threaten to the girls who dare to dream.

Last updated: September 29, 2017 | 19:57
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