Late on Saturday, barely hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to his constituency in Varanasi came to an end, a protest that was being held at Banaras Hindu University against the alleged molestation of a student inside the campus turned violent as police lathi-charged protesting students.
A student, who was witness to the lathi-charge and violence in the campus, spoke to The Quint, reliving her memories from the previous day.
The protest had continued for the second consecutive day with both male and female students demanding that the VC meet them outside his office. The violence broke out at around 11 pm when the VC did not show up for the meeting.
Twelve students of BHU were held in preventive custody and released shortly after on Sunday, a day after the ongoing protest against the harassment of a female student turned violent.
Police Commissioner Nitin Ramesh Gokarn said that the lathicharge should not have happened and that there will be an investigation into who ordered it.
Generally there is no need for a lathi-charge on women. We need to investigate who gave the go-ahead for it.
Watch The Quint’s report from ground zero:
The ongoing protest has shifted near the boys’ hostel, where protesters are currently demanding the VC’s resignation.
Seperately, some BHU students, teachers and other staff have taken out a peace march with black arm bands to protest the violence that took place in the campus the night before.
What Triggered the Violence
Students told The Quint that The VC was supposed to meet the girls at MMV college at 5:00 pm but delayed the meeting until 8 pm, when he announced that he will be meeting them near Triveni Hostel where the incident of molestation happened. The delayed meeting agitated the female students who tried to leave the hostel, and the VC refused to meet them maintaining that the leaving the hostel was unacceptable.
Police then closed the gates of Mahila Mahavidyala Hostel on the female students, when some of the male students protested the move, prompting the police to resort to lathicharge.
Female students told the students that no female police officer was present on the site when the lathicharge occurred and that they were beaten up by male cops. “They hurled rocks at us,” a student alleged pointing at her bandaged leg.
“Boys were lathicharged but even girls were not spared. We were even given the choicest abuses,” female students told ANI.
What Triggered the Protest
The protest was triggered after a first-year-student was allegedly molested and harassed by three motorcycle-borne men outside her hostel, near Bharat Kala Bhawan at around 6 pm, on 21 September. When she reported the matter to the proctorial board’s security personnel, she was reportedly questioned asked why was she outside the campus after sunset.
The student informed her hostel mates about the sexist response from the authorities after which the students demonstrated a protest on Friday morning, demanding round-the-clock security, CCTV camera, security check at entries, recruitment of police women and GSCASH. They also demanded that the VC discuss the matter with them, but he didn’t show up.
Anti-Social Elements Involved: VC
Speaking to Hindustan Times, the university’s public relations officer Rajesh Singh said, “The protesters were told any dharna or demonstration without prior permission is banned on BHU premises. Despite that, they didn’t leave and started using abusive language against the vice chancellor. Thereafter, they were driven away by security personnel.”
Girish Chandra Tripathi, the VC of BHU pointed at the involvement of “anti-social elements” in the protest.
Based on my experiences I can assure you that students would never resort to such violent measures. We will not allow this to happen on the university established by Madan Mohan Malaviya. I do not believe that the campaign was run by the students. We had information that some anti-social elements will try to disturb the environment of the university. A lot of people who don’t belong to the university have tried to incite this protest.
He also said that stringent action will be taken on the “unfortunate incident” that happened to the female student.
The student initially had complaints with the university, but now that is not the case. Some complained about the installation of CCTVs, it is under process. Some girls said university should be more sensitive towards safety. I agreed to their viewpoint. Safety and security is important and we will have to consider various aspects.
Students Leaving for Home
The protest forced the university to advance the Dussehra break by three days on 25 September.
Housekeepers of Triveni Hostel have asked the students to leave by 4:00 pm on Sunday and not return before the 2nd of October.
All hostel gates have been closed and only those who want to 'leave for home' are being allowed to leave. The Birla Hostel, Rajaram Hostel and Srimati Mona Devi hostel were completely vacated by end of Sunday. All three were boys hostels.
The Quint learnt that some students are already leaving for home, others have said they're going to stay at a friend's place.
Reactions from Political Quarters
The baton-charge by the police was condemned by politicians and activists on Twitter. Senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav said the issue and the problems of eve-teasing in the campus will be raised in the Parliament.
It has never happened before at BHU. It is a sheer violation of freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution. We will raise the issue in Parliament... It is intolerable in a democracy and the government should apologise.
Former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and SP member Akhilesh Yadav demanded a probe into the incident.
Video Producer: Anmol Saini
Video Editor: Mohd Irshad Alam
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)