State of denial

BHU should be more sensitive to women students

On Wednesday, the chief proctor of the Banaras Hindu University, O N Singh, stepped down from his post after taking moral responsibility for the events of the past week, which saw a massive uproar by female students over the alleged sexual assault of a student on September 21. The students alleged that repeated complaints of molestation of women had not been taken seriously by the BHU authorities and the culprits were, in fact, shielded. The matter reached a flashpoint when the BHU administration chose to clamp down on the protesting students and local police lathicharged thousands of girls on the campus, injuring many. In a stunning display of insensitivity, FIRs (first information reports) were filed against many of them and an internal report tried to play down the incident.

Events that followed showed the BHU administration in very poor light. The vice-chancellor, Girish Chandra Tripathi, made a string of accusations that showed that he was in a state of denial. Mr Tripathi claimed the incident and the protest were staged artificially and driven by “vested interests” motivated by political reasons ahead of the prime minister’s visit to Benaras. One of the most damaging assertions that Mr Tripathi made in a newspaper interview was that it was “not an incident of molestation, it was one of eve-teasing”. He also sought to dismiss the various allegations of discrimination against the women students of the university — be it the freedom to move around in the evening or the access to the internet or even the freedom to eat non-vegetarian food within the hostels. Most of these restrictions do not apply to the male students. Even the state chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, sought to dismiss the whole incident as the work of some “anti-social” elements.

A bigger crisis was finally averted after a probe led by the Varanasi divisional commissioner squarely held the university administration responsible for the campus violence last weekend. Still, here is a fact that should put things in perspective: Even a full week after the incident that has received national coverage and even forced the Prime Minister to enquire about it from the chief minister, as of Wednesday afternoon, the police had not yet recorded the statement of the victim — a pre-requisite for any probe to start. The appalling apathy of the university administration and the cavalier approach of the local police have dented the reputation of the BHU as one of the best universities in the country. Over the past decade, there has been a surge of 131 per cent in the enrolment of women candidates in the BHU. This incident will make parents question whether it is safe to send their daughters to the university. There will also be questions about the safety of the female students in less prestigious institutions. What the administration needs to do is to stop living in denial and carefully listen to the women students to address their claims of widespread discrimination. The larger point, however, is that of the general mindset about women’s safety and dignity. And this goes beyond the BHU campus.