DNA Edit: BHU trips up again

A slew of diktats — though not pronounced officially — aimed at restricting the female students of Banaras Hindu University (BHU), has hurt the spirit of education, further widened the yawning gender divide, and compromised the egalitarian credo of a renowned centre of learning. It also shows how rattled the administration is following a spate of protests spearheaded by female students last month when they were beaten up by the police. They were agitating against police inaction over a case of sexual harassment.

The university’s retrograde approach — evident in the orders such as girls entering the campus must bare their faces, and avoid using mobile phones while coming in and out of the campus — tramples upon the rights of a section of students in the most gender-discriminatory manner. By keeping it unofficial, university authorities are trying to outwit the students and rob them of the right to protest. It won’t work for long. The students realised that the university is watching them, and their letter to the authorities was a cautionary note to step back. BHU would be ill-advised to continue these unofficial measures in the name of security. It will amount to playing with fire.

Students across the world have demonstrated time and again their fearless spirit and an innate ability to stand up to authoritarian regimes. It’s only a matter of time before the university is again rocked by agitations. More importantly, how can an administration behave in a way that hurts the interests of its students? By choosing to be anachronistic, the authorities have given the institution a bad name. They should take a leaf out of the #MeToo movement for their own edification.