On one issue at least, Indian women have achieved total gender equality. When it comes to police crackdowns, the same strong-arm tactics are used against women as against any other segment of the population. The law enforcement may repeatedly be found wanting in its main remit—the enforcement of law and order—but it cannot be accused of not being an equal-opportunity offender. The crackdown is swift and hard, even if the protesters are placing a very reasonable demand—the safety of girl students around their hostels. And all this at India’s third largest institution of higher learning.
From a Nobel laureate to international scholars, scientists, historians, writers, poets and heads of states, the Banaras Hindu University has a past it can be proud of. All this can be undermined by a vice-chancellor who stands on prestige and refuses to understand that his role cannot be restricted to churning out graduates and postgraduates—that the sanctity of the campus he heads, a home away from home for students, is paramount. Its environment is not just about security either—it’s about the terms of discourse it sets in young minds, the way it fosters their understanding of how legitimate demands are framed and negotiated. It’s their first ‘aware’ encounter with power, and they make judgements about the legitimacy of power in a democratic state from this microcosm.
It was imperative therefore that the university comported itself in a just and conscientious manner. Instead, it made news for all the wrong reasons—girl students having to hit the streets late evening, and amazingly getting beaten up by male constables in complete violation of rules, and facing FIRs. What was pure anger against rampant sexual harassment has now, inevitably, become political. Two local cops and magistrates have since been removed but that may not be enough. The BHU is part of the prime minister’s constituency, and there’s a new chief minister in the state trying to prove his credentials. Stark headlines and countless social media memes won’t help in image management.