Student Movements
Bhagat Singh Chattra Morcha in BHU
“They have made a mockery of the safety and security for girls here..while on one hand they implement curfew at 10 PM for girls, and do so much moral policing in the name of safety, when the real matter comes up, they do nothing. Their hollow concept is what made all us girls so angry”.
And so proceeded our conversation, as I interviewed Akansha, a first year M.A student, from Banaras Hindu University, and member of Bhagat Singh Chattra Morcha (BCM), a student based organization in BHU. Her involvement began with a movement in 2017 in BHU, and she proceeded to take the lead in more such. Student movements are at their strongest when we function collectively in a streamlined fashion, are steered in an organized way and work in collaborative efforts. And it is in standing in solidarity with fellow institutes that we achieve the same.
Recently, Prof. S K Chaube had BHU in the headlines in October, 2018 when he was accused of sexual misconduct towards students of the zoology department. Akansha mentions that there were 36 girls who accused him of the same, while they had been on an educational trip to Odisha and that he had a tendency to make obscene remarks. He was subsequently suspended from the institute after a probe by the harassment cell and the women’s grievance cell. According to an article in The New Indian Express, BHU PRO, Rajesh Singh, said that ‘The professor would remain suspended from duty till the completion of the investigation. Appropriate action would be taken against him on the basis of the investigation report”(1).
However, after an 8 month long suspension, Prof. Chaube was reinstated by the administration leading to protests erupting across BHU. Akansha mentioned that the Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) had found him guilty after questioning many students as well, in their report. Despite the same, his suspension was revoked by the Vice Chancellor (VC) and he joined in July, 2019. The students however, did not believe a warning was enough, and demanded his removal from BHU. “This professor was reinstated after the girls who accused him had graduated, very conveniently so no opposing students would remain”, she noted.
It was thus, on 14 September, that around 100 students decided to march to the main gate and protest. As one of the leaders of this movement, she noted the hypocrisy of it all, “They have made a mockery of the safety and security for girls here. While on one hand they implement curfew at 10 PM for girls, and do so much moral policing in the name of safety, when the real matter comes up, they do nothing. Their hollow concept is what made all us girls so angry”.
They demanded to speak to the VC himself, and despite the administration’s attempts to threaten them, none of the girls relented. With their college having different rules for girls and boys, girls are restricted for clothing, curfew and boys are let out free at any time. “When I was in my BA first year here, the environment was such that say if you wore shorts, people will point fingers at you… and there is no security really. People walk in and out anytime and they don’t take action against our complaints”
However, this divide hadn’t managed to bleed across to the student body. “Some girls stayed all night long, both girls and boys participated in this protest we led” she mentioned.
The faculty body seems to have retained their differences. When asked about their involvement, she mentioned that none of the faculty members openly participated against the reinstatement of Prof Chaube.
Their 28 hour struggle bore fruit when the VC sent a delegation to meet students and, decided to send the accused on a “long holiday” while the EC would review the matter again.
Having managed to mobilize masses to protest and stand collectively, her organization had certainly achieved more than what they set out for when they were mere students coming to study. Security is a basic need that they demand, that unites students across regions and disciplines, for which they need to take a stand, before they focus only on studies. “ The students are very angered because of the patriarchal nature of the administration.. and the way we release this anger is through protests, where we have a platform to do so.” At this point, she mentioned something which I think will lose its value if translated.
“Dekhiye, ham padhai karne aaye hain yahan pe. Aur padhai toh tab karenge na, jab uske layak mohaul ho.” (See, we come here to study, but we will only be able to do so if we have an environment deserving of that)
This movement was driven by the students, mostly girls. They hope for it to not involve outsiders and try to involve students maximally, and harness their strength in the community. ”It is best that students remain aware of what happens in their surroundings and stay vigilant”, she said. She spoke positively of future movements by the students and mentioned that none of the members would allow his reinstatement. “When students from Mahila Mahavidyalaya College were threatened against participating in solidarity with this movement, we warned that if anyone is curbed from helping in our protest, we would revolt against the authorities”. Having set the path ablaze in this movement, they are confident that should they face further problems from the administration, it would be all too easy to inspire further students to be encouraged to join them .
Interviewed and translated by Spatika
Reference:
Bhagat Singh Chattra Morcha in BHU
“They have made a mockery of the safety and security for girls here..while on one hand they implement curfew at 10 PM for girls, and do so much moral policing in the name of safety, when the real matter comes up, they do nothing. Their hollow concept is what made all us girls so angry”.
And so proceeded our conversation, as I interviewed Akansha, a first year M.A student, from Banaras Hindu University, and member of Bhagat Singh Chattra Morcha (BCM), a student based organization in BHU. Her involvement began with a movement in 2017 in BHU, and she proceeded to take the lead in more such. Student movements are at their strongest when we function collectively in a streamlined fashion, are steered in an organized way and work in collaborative efforts. And it is in standing in solidarity with fellow institutes that we achieve the same.
Recently, Prof. S K Chaube had BHU in the headlines in October, 2018 when he was accused of sexual misconduct towards students of the zoology department. Akansha mentions that there were 36 girls who accused him of the same, while they had been on an educational trip to Odisha and that he had a tendency to make obscene remarks. He was subsequently suspended from the institute after a probe by the harassment cell and the women’s grievance cell. According to an article in The New Indian Express, BHU PRO, Rajesh Singh, said that ‘The professor would remain suspended from duty till the completion of the investigation. Appropriate action would be taken against him on the basis of the investigation report”(1).
However, after an 8 month long suspension, Prof. Chaube was reinstated by the administration leading to protests erupting across BHU. Akansha mentioned that the Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) had found him guilty after questioning many students as well, in their report. Despite the same, his suspension was revoked by the Vice Chancellor (VC) and he joined in July, 2019. The students however, did not believe a warning was enough, and demanded his removal from BHU. “This professor was reinstated after the girls who accused him had graduated, very conveniently so no opposing students would remain”, she noted.
It was thus, on 14 September, that around 100 students decided to march to the main gate and protest. As one of the leaders of this movement, she noted the hypocrisy of it all, “They have made a mockery of the safety and security for girls here. While on one hand they implement curfew at 10 PM for girls, and do so much moral policing in the name of safety, when the real matter comes up, they do nothing. Their hollow concept is what made all us girls so angry”.
They demanded to speak to the VC himself, and despite the administration’s attempts to threaten them, none of the girls relented. With their college having different rules for girls and boys, girls are restricted for clothing, curfew and boys are let out free at any time. “When I was in my BA first year here, the environment was such that say if you wore shorts, people will point fingers at you… and there is no security really. People walk in and out anytime and they don’t take action against our complaints”
However, this divide hadn’t managed to bleed across to the student body. “Some girls stayed all night long, both girls and boys participated in this protest we led” she mentioned.
The faculty body seems to have retained their differences. When asked about their involvement, she mentioned that none of the faculty members openly participated against the reinstatement of Prof Chaube.
Their 28 hour struggle bore fruit when the VC sent a delegation to meet students and, decided to send the accused on a “long holiday” while the EC would review the matter again.
Having managed to mobilize masses to protest and stand collectively, her organization had certainly achieved more than what they set out for when they were mere students coming to study. Security is a basic need that they demand, that unites students across regions and disciplines, for which they need to take a stand, before they focus only on studies. “ The students are very angered because of the patriarchal nature of the administration.. and the way we release this anger is through protests, where we have a platform to do so.” At this point, she mentioned something which I think will lose its value if translated.
“Dekhiye, ham padhai karne aaye hain yahan pe. Aur padhai toh tab karenge na, jab uske layak mohaul ho.” (See, we come here to study, but we will only be able to do so if we have an environment deserving of that)
This movement was driven by the students, mostly girls. They hope for it to not involve outsiders and try to involve students maximally, and harness their strength in the community. ”It is best that students remain aware of what happens in their surroundings and stay vigilant”, she said. She spoke positively of future movements by the students and mentioned that none of the members would allow his reinstatement. “When students from Mahila Mahavidyalaya College were threatened against participating in solidarity with this movement, we warned that if anyone is curbed from helping in our protest, we would revolt against the authorities”. Having set the path ablaze in this movement, they are confident that should they face further problems from the administration, it would be all too easy to inspire further students to be encouraged to join them .
Interviewed and translated by Spatika
Reference:
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