HYDERABAD: For the first time in the history of University of Hyderabad (UoH), as many as six women candidates representing different organisations will be vying for top four posts in the student union elections, which are scheduled for Friday.
In what is seen as a bitter clash between the Students Federation of India (SFI), Ambedkar Students Association-led United Democratic Alliance and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad-OBC Forum alliance, there are two women presidential candidates -- S Sreeja Vasthavi of Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) and Aarti Nagpal of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). However, the SFI, which is the only organisation to go it alone in the elections, has gone on board with only one woman candidate among the top four positions -- Anupama S, for the post of joint secretary.
This year’s elections will also be unique in the sense that the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has decided to field four women candidates for all four top posts - president, joint secretary, cultural secretary and sports secretary. “This is the first time in India that we have put up a panel that has women for all major posts. Our panel has been chosen on their own merit and they will lead the student community,” said Sreerag Poickadan, a former President of ASA-SFI panel-led union.
However, many students have been terming these nominations of women as mere ‘tokenism’. Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad-OBC Forum (ABVP-OBCF) candidate Aarti Nagpal has come under a lot of criticism for belonging to an organisation perceived to be anti-woman. “When you cast a woman candidate, you immediately do away with the potential risk of being accused of not being gender sensitive. The mere presence of women in panel doesn’t guarantee gender justice,” noted Sampurna Bhaumik, a PhD scholar.
The agenda of gender justice has especially been crucial to UoH which saw at least 3 major cases of sexual harassment. A female student was also sexually abused by outsiders who entered the campus from it’s porus south campus boundaries. In the recent past, many students took to the social media to reveal instances of harassment by fellow students. However, Sirisha Vepoor, the only woman to have served as the UoH students union president, observes that breaking the glass ceiling is also important.
“Even as the president of students union in 2013, I faced sexist attitude from the administration and other student organisations. Once an admin officer told me that if I bug him more on students issues, he would call my parents and tell them to get me married. I overcame that only with my organisation’s support,” she said.