BJP model of women safety

Except for the rhythmic rhetoric, what we see nowadays under the rule of BJP are instances of the party’s proclamations ending as mere lip-service.

After Narendra Modi assumed power, the declarations and slogans the government came up with have not only remained a mere lip-service, but in practice, have done exactly the opposite of those declarations. Uttar Pradesh where Yogi Adityanath took charge few months ago, shows that the states where BJP is in power showcases the worst performance. The BJP government proves it’s governing skills by brutally thrashing female students and using rubber pellets against them at the prestigious Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Modi’s own constituency of Varanasi, in UP. The incident at Varanasi on Saturday is an alarming testimony of how deplorably the BJP government, who initiated the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (Save the girl child, Educate the Girl child) campaign treats girl students who came for higher studies.

It all began when a three bike-borne men molested a female student of Arts faculty on Thursday evening outside the varsity campus when she was returning to the hostel. When the student approached the warden to inform the senior officials, she was rebuked for coming late to the hostel. The women students staged a protest the very next day on the University campus. They continued their strike when a section of them were stopped from meeting the University Vice Chancellor Saturday night. When the students became violent, the security forces used lathicharge and pellets against the protestors. The police force that arrived without the presence of any female officer, thrashed the female students. About four students are seriously injured on the head. The hostels have now been closed and the students have been asked to leave the premises. They were driven to the streets without giving them enough time to book train tickets to return to their native place. When the lathi charge and attacks raked up a controversy, Yogi Adityanath government ordered an investigation and suspended some officials. The history of Yogi Adityanath government shows that this move is just an effort to save its face and to prevent the Opposition from earning any political gain.

The Sangh Parivar has been planning attempts to intimidate and suppress the campuses since the party took charge. Rather than improving the academic atmosphere of the institutions, attempts are being made to ‘cleanse’ the students by forcefully imposing Sanghi-made laws in Central Universities. The allegations of the intellectuals and social activists that the Sangh Parivar has been attempting to ruin the democratic ambience of the Universities and groom them in a manner similar to that of the RSS Shakhas have been proven true. The ‘governing reforms’ of the Vice Chancellor who was appointed to the post at the BHU on Sangh Parivar-merit, are itself a proof. The present VC Girish Chandra Tripathi became eligible because of his RSS background. In the inquiry under the Right to Information Act conducted at the Allahabad University where he was earlier employed, he lacked qualifications required for the current post like the documents of research work, articles in research magazines or guideship for researchers. He expresses the manner in which he grew up in his sphere of functioning. The timings of the cyber library of the campus that remains open for students all day long was cut short out of concern that ‘such a library will be used by students to watch pornography’.

The gates of girls’ hostel will be closed at 6.00 pm. The administration has banned the usage of mobile phones by girls after 10 pm. Women are banned from consuming meat. Women students were also made to sign an affidavit pledging that they won’t indulge in any protest or agitation. So goes the various restrictions imposed specifically on girl students. The VC justifies these restrictions saying that it would ‘cleanse’ the students. But the authorities who lend safety advices to the women students including returning to hostel before dark have failed to provide safety on the campus premises too. Instead of taking steps to tackle the crimes, the authorities are frantically trying to showcase their muscle power on the students including girls for engaging in protest triggered out of apprehensions. The state government has been trying to smother the agitation by granting long leave for the University and other colleges. That is, saving the girl children and educating them is seen only until the threshold of power. Once assumed power, it is suppression irrespective of gender difference that is the ‘model of ancient Indian culture’ of the Sangh Parivar. The unfortunate incidents in the BHU is the latest evidence.