Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi continues to make news for its sexist policies. Shortly after the university's crackdown on an agit-prop art project that used sanitary napkins, it has earned the ire of its students again.
In a notice a few weeks ago, the university appears to have withdrawn the provision that allowed women residents of its hostel to stay out until 10 pm twice a month. When the campus reopened after the summer break and students discovered the new restrictions last week, there were strong reactions across the campus.
The university news blog Jamia Journal put up a photograph of the notice, which states, “Residents of the Hall of Girls are informed that no late nights are allowed any more, you are, therefore, required to follow norms, in your own best interest.”
Until the June 1 notice, women who got “late night” permissions could return to the hostel by 10 pm twice a month instead of the usual deadline of 8 pm. The new order has done away with this. Now, women who wish to stay out a little later will not be allowed to return to the hostel for the night – but they can stay away only with written permission from their local guardians.
Consent from the local guardian was necessary to obtain permission for a late night even under the previous system. But the withdrawal of even this privilege has elicited vociferous criticism from the students. They claimed that the order is sexist as no such rules exist for the men's hostel, adding that the university is treating adults as children who need to be protected.
Discriminatory practices
The Jamia Journal blog pointed out that the hostel students are adults who have the power to elect representatives to govern the country but “these same university students are then treated as children by public officials of a state-funded university. The irony is almost palpable."
A second-year student said on condition of anonymity that the hostel’s authoritative environment is stifling. “I lived in the hostel for a year, but now I am considering if I should re-apply or not,” she said. “You have to come back by 7.45 every evening, which leaves just three hours in the evening since classes get over only by 5 pm usually.”
She said that the authorities should consider making it easier for women to stay out, instead of curtailing their freedom. “We have so many rules and regulations but the boys’ hostel doesn’t even have a deadline,” she said.
She added, “If our local guardians are responsible for us and they have given it in writing, why is the university claiming this is a security issue? Jamia is very competent academically but their regulations on free movement make me feels as if I am living under North Korea’s authoritative regime.”
Jamia’s media co-ordinator Mukesh Ranjan claimed that he did not have any information on the matter. “I will have to find out about the notice myself before offering a comment on this,” he said.
Even students who are not from the hostel are speaking out against the deadline which, they claim, becomes an obstruction in making the best use of one’s day. “I didn’t apply [for the hostel] this time because it was not possible for me to be back by 8 pm due to our rigorous course schedules,” said Kainat Sarfaraz, a masters student in convergent journalism. “We need to interview people for our assignments etc. It is difficult to function around that with a deadline hanging over your head.”
The move earned the university the ire of activists and women's rights groups as well.
“Hostels in most univs [universities] including BHU [Banaras Hindu University], DU [Delhi University], Trivandrum etc all have sexist rules,” All India Progressive Women Association President Kavita Krishnan wrote in a Facebook post. “And we need to challenge sexist hostel rules everywhere. Those who justify sexist hostel rules in the name of safety are indulging in a form of victim blaming – i.e. blaming women for sexual violence.”
Kerala protests
As Krishnan pointed out, women face discriminatory rules in many big and small universities in the country. In March, 200 women students of an engineering college in Kerala protested against a curfew time of 6.30 pm by spending the night outside the hostel.
The students from Thiruvananthapuram College of Engineering stayed inside college premises but outside their dorm rooms in protest and questioned their principal’s claim that the college campus is unsafe after 6 pm.
“Until we step out, there won't be any security measures,” a final year student told NDTV. “Why are there no security measures? Why should we suffer locked up?"
St Stephen’s College in Delhi also bars entry for women after 10 pm and requires a guardian’s note seeking permission for a "night out" three days in advance. Students are allowed only six nights out each month.
In a blog post written last year, Leila Gautham, a college alumna expressed her frustration at the discriminatory treatment doled out to women by claiming that the college is a “sick place”.
“Female hostellers are subjected to an entirely different regime than their male counterparts – definitely more cumbersome and burdensome, and to some at least, deeply frustrating, humiliating, and demoralising,” she wrote. “I also found a gaping contradiction in my own life as a student, where, on the one hand, I could be as radical as I wanted and discuss feminism and neoliberalism in the classroom, but could not be trusted to make decisions about my own safety.”
At Christ University in Bangalore, nights out are allowed but a permission from parents has to be faxed to the college at least three days in advance.
Other colleges in Karnataka, meanwhile, have banned women from wearing shorts and sleeveless tops in the common areas of the hostels and specify that hair must always be bound in the dining room. Fathers are not allowed after 7 pm in many of these women's hostels, even though mothers may enter with the warden’s permission.
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In a notice a few weeks ago, the university appears to have withdrawn the provision that allowed women residents of its hostel to stay out until 10 pm twice a month. When the campus reopened after the summer break and students discovered the new restrictions last week, there were strong reactions across the campus.
Courtesy: Jamia Journal
The university news blog Jamia Journal put up a photograph of the notice, which states, “Residents of the Hall of Girls are informed that no late nights are allowed any more, you are, therefore, required to follow norms, in your own best interest.”
Until the June 1 notice, women who got “late night” permissions could return to the hostel by 10 pm twice a month instead of the usual deadline of 8 pm. The new order has done away with this. Now, women who wish to stay out a little later will not be allowed to return to the hostel for the night – but they can stay away only with written permission from their local guardians.
Consent from the local guardian was necessary to obtain permission for a late night even under the previous system. But the withdrawal of even this privilege has elicited vociferous criticism from the students. They claimed that the order is sexist as no such rules exist for the men's hostel, adding that the university is treating adults as children who need to be protected.
Discriminatory practices
The Jamia Journal blog pointed out that the hostel students are adults who have the power to elect representatives to govern the country but “these same university students are then treated as children by public officials of a state-funded university. The irony is almost palpable."
A second-year student said on condition of anonymity that the hostel’s authoritative environment is stifling. “I lived in the hostel for a year, but now I am considering if I should re-apply or not,” she said. “You have to come back by 7.45 every evening, which leaves just three hours in the evening since classes get over only by 5 pm usually.”
She said that the authorities should consider making it easier for women to stay out, instead of curtailing their freedom. “We have so many rules and regulations but the boys’ hostel doesn’t even have a deadline,” she said.
She added, “If our local guardians are responsible for us and they have given it in writing, why is the university claiming this is a security issue? Jamia is very competent academically but their regulations on free movement make me feels as if I am living under North Korea’s authoritative regime.”
Jamia’s media co-ordinator Mukesh Ranjan claimed that he did not have any information on the matter. “I will have to find out about the notice myself before offering a comment on this,” he said.
Even students who are not from the hostel are speaking out against the deadline which, they claim, becomes an obstruction in making the best use of one’s day. “I didn’t apply [for the hostel] this time because it was not possible for me to be back by 8 pm due to our rigorous course schedules,” said Kainat Sarfaraz, a masters student in convergent journalism. “We need to interview people for our assignments etc. It is difficult to function around that with a deadline hanging over your head.”
The move earned the university the ire of activists and women's rights groups as well.
“Hostels in most univs [universities] including BHU [Banaras Hindu University], DU [Delhi University], Trivandrum etc all have sexist rules,” All India Progressive Women Association President Kavita Krishnan wrote in a Facebook post. “And we need to challenge sexist hostel rules everywhere. Those who justify sexist hostel rules in the name of safety are indulging in a form of victim blaming – i.e. blaming women for sexual violence.”
Kerala protests
As Krishnan pointed out, women face discriminatory rules in many big and small universities in the country. In March, 200 women students of an engineering college in Kerala protested against a curfew time of 6.30 pm by spending the night outside the hostel.
The students from Thiruvananthapuram College of Engineering stayed inside college premises but outside their dorm rooms in protest and questioned their principal’s claim that the college campus is unsafe after 6 pm.
“Until we step out, there won't be any security measures,” a final year student told NDTV. “Why are there no security measures? Why should we suffer locked up?"
St Stephen’s College in Delhi also bars entry for women after 10 pm and requires a guardian’s note seeking permission for a "night out" three days in advance. Students are allowed only six nights out each month.
In a blog post written last year, Leila Gautham, a college alumna expressed her frustration at the discriminatory treatment doled out to women by claiming that the college is a “sick place”.
“Female hostellers are subjected to an entirely different regime than their male counterparts – definitely more cumbersome and burdensome, and to some at least, deeply frustrating, humiliating, and demoralising,” she wrote. “I also found a gaping contradiction in my own life as a student, where, on the one hand, I could be as radical as I wanted and discuss feminism and neoliberalism in the classroom, but could not be trusted to make decisions about my own safety.”
At Christ University in Bangalore, nights out are allowed but a permission from parents has to be faxed to the college at least three days in advance.
Other colleges in Karnataka, meanwhile, have banned women from wearing shorts and sleeveless tops in the common areas of the hostels and specify that hair must always be bound in the dining room. Fathers are not allowed after 7 pm in many of these women's hostels, even though mothers may enter with the warden’s permission.
