The controversies don't seem to end at Hyderabad's Maulana Azad National Urdu University. In January, it was the surprising appointment of Modi aide and businessmen Zafar Sareshwala as Chancellor that stirred up a storm. In April came the allegation of irregularities with regards to the installation of Wi-Fi on campus. Now, students are once again up in arms to protest against sexist hostel rules.
What sparked the protests, though, was the visit to the campus last week by a former vice chancellor, Mohammad Miya, to inaugurate a new hostel building. This did not go down well with a section of students and teachers. They said that Miya should not have been invited to the event because he had allegedly been involved in several irregularities while in office. They also claimed that he had sidelined Urdu during his tenure.
However, the protests erupted into a brawl between students and teachers on Monday. A group of teachers claimed that they had been manhandled by students and lodged complaints with the police. One professor, Aziz Bano, claimed that she had faced sexual harassment on Tuesday.
“They kicked and punched me and pulled off my head scarf. They surrounded me pushed me to the ground near the lecture hall,” she said.
The students deny this, claiming instead that it was Professor Bano, who is also a warden of one of the hostels, who made a sexist comment about the women participating in the demonstrations. They have demanded a public apology from her, apart from other items in a 36-point agenda.
“She asked women if they had come to entertain boys,” said a PhD scholar from the university on condition of anonymity.
As a consequence, the students decided to demand the abrogation of all sexist hostel rules as well as a public apology from the professor.
Bano maintained that she had not made the comments being attributed to her. “I am a woman," she told The Times of India. "I have never made any sexist comments against girls.”
The students are not satisfied. More than 1,200 students boycotted classes on Thursday and held demonstrations, amidst a large police contingent.
Sexist rules
At the heart of the protests are the claim that hostel rules are skewed in favour of men and impose unreasonable restrictions on women students.
“We are not allowed to go out after 6.30 in the evening,” one woman student said. “We have to take permission from the Chief Warden two days in advance if we want to go out after that.”
Women students can only use the library until 7 pm, they say, even though men can use the facility until midnight. “This is just one of the examples of the regressive diktats of the university,” a student said. “The university hostel is guarded by six wardens and they come up with arbitrary rules very often just to see how far they can push us back.”
On Monday, the students burned three hostel registers and booklets of hostel rules. The students have also received support from the Pinjra Tod campaign started at various universities in New Delhi. Delhi students have called for a demonstration outside Telangana Bhavan in the capital on Friday to support their counterparts in Hyderabad.
Here are some pictures from Urdu University.
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What sparked the protests, though, was the visit to the campus last week by a former vice chancellor, Mohammad Miya, to inaugurate a new hostel building. This did not go down well with a section of students and teachers. They said that Miya should not have been invited to the event because he had allegedly been involved in several irregularities while in office. They also claimed that he had sidelined Urdu during his tenure.
However, the protests erupted into a brawl between students and teachers on Monday. A group of teachers claimed that they had been manhandled by students and lodged complaints with the police. One professor, Aziz Bano, claimed that she had faced sexual harassment on Tuesday.
“They kicked and punched me and pulled off my head scarf. They surrounded me pushed me to the ground near the lecture hall,” she said.
The students deny this, claiming instead that it was Professor Bano, who is also a warden of one of the hostels, who made a sexist comment about the women participating in the demonstrations. They have demanded a public apology from her, apart from other items in a 36-point agenda.
“She asked women if they had come to entertain boys,” said a PhD scholar from the university on condition of anonymity.
As a consequence, the students decided to demand the abrogation of all sexist hostel rules as well as a public apology from the professor.
Bano maintained that she had not made the comments being attributed to her. “I am a woman," she told The Times of India. "I have never made any sexist comments against girls.”
The students are not satisfied. More than 1,200 students boycotted classes on Thursday and held demonstrations, amidst a large police contingent.
Sexist rules
At the heart of the protests are the claim that hostel rules are skewed in favour of men and impose unreasonable restrictions on women students.
“We are not allowed to go out after 6.30 in the evening,” one woman student said. “We have to take permission from the Chief Warden two days in advance if we want to go out after that.”
Women students can only use the library until 7 pm, they say, even though men can use the facility until midnight. “This is just one of the examples of the regressive diktats of the university,” a student said. “The university hostel is guarded by six wardens and they come up with arbitrary rules very often just to see how far they can push us back.”
On Monday, the students burned three hostel registers and booklets of hostel rules. The students have also received support from the Pinjra Tod campaign started at various universities in New Delhi. Delhi students have called for a demonstration outside Telangana Bhavan in the capital on Friday to support their counterparts in Hyderabad.
Here are some pictures from Urdu University.
Pictures to Scroll.in sent by university students.
