HYDERABAD: For the first time, a girl student is contesting for the post of president in the upcoming students union election of Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU). Although the university has had six students union elections till now, it is only in the last three years that girls are taking active interest in the student union elections in the university, which is often accused of not having a liberal atmosphere for women.
One issue often raised by MANUU students is the curfew on movement of girl students living in hostel at nights, which was also an important trigger behind the large scale protests that the university witnessed in 2015. This is one issue that is on top of the mind of Sadiya Mumtaz, President candidate of Azad United Students Federation (AUSF), one of the three panels of students that is contesting the elections to be held on September 6. Mumtaz, pursuing MA History in MANUU said, “Presently girl students are not allowed to move out of their hostel after 8 pm unlike boys. This not just hampers our movement but also our studies because we cannot go to library at night.”
Another girl contesting in the elections is Razia Perween, who is the Treasurer candidate for another panel, Azad National Students Association (ANSA). Perween said, “There are issues in girls hostel which cannot be represented by boys. I want to be the person in students union whom girls can approach with any issue they have got.” However, some university issues are common which have become the poll plank for all three students panels which include compulsory biometric attendance for research scholars, lack of health insurance for students, demand for good placements need for transportation inside university campus and more hostels.