This post has been self-published on Youth Ki Awaaz by Shambhavi Saxena. Just like them, anyone can publish on Youth Ki Awaaz. Find out more
‘The Women Have Had Enough’: Delhi Students’ #PinjraTod Movement Against Sexist Rules
More from Shambhavi Saxena
By Shambhavi Saxena:
On the morning of 9th September, Jamia Milia Islamia students woke up to find their campus plastered with 300 posters boldly declaring “Pinjra Tod”. These two Hindi words that mean “break the cage” have been flowering up all over college campuses and nearby paying guesthouses, because women students are tired of having to live like caged birds.
Towards the end of last year, St Stephen’s graduate Leila Gautham’s account of the regressive rules governing women’s hostels in Delhi University sparked off an inter-college discussion of the ways in which even esteemed institutions were infantilizing and immobilizing adult females. In June, Jamia Milia Islamia’s Provost issued a bizarre and vaguely threatening circular prohibiting girls from going out at night. Recently, an anonymous student from Lady Shri Ram revealed the gulf between her college’s feminist politics and its hostel regulations. And the women have had enough.
The restrictions on the number of nights a student may spend outside campus, the long winded process of obtaining permission, the absurd curfews being imposed on grown citizens – this and much more has culminated into a growing guerrilla campaign across universities in the national capital.
The Pinjra Tod movement, comprised of women from colleges in Delhi University, Jamia Milia Islamia, Ambedkar Univeristy, National Law University and Jawaharlal Nehru University, grew out of a simple Facebook page, where female hostel and PG residents began sharing their bitter experiences with guards, wardens, principles, landlords and the like. What is clear from all these stories is the need for an all-out rejection of these restrictive rules and the patriarchal protectionism they are built on.
The most unfortunate immediate outcome of the escalation (or at least increased reportage) of crimes against women has been the immediate curtailing of women’s mobility. When the gang-rapes and molestations that have been happening under our nose for centuries finally come to our notice over dinner and the nine o’clock news, more often than not it is closely followed by well-meaning but constricting directives. Statements like “Be home before dark,” “Don’t use public transport alone,” “Have a trusted male companion that your family approves of,” “Don’t wear shorts,” can be an everyday part of life for most women. But the intensity at which they become repeated in the aftermath of unfortunate incidents isn’t as much about protection as it is about prohibition.
Attached to these statements are moral judgements, which gives people (by which I mean agents of the patriarchy) ability to vilify women who exercise their basic fundamental rights of movement, speech and the right to wear what they choose.
Already Pinjra Tod’s change.org petition (which best explains the campaign’s mission) is gaining signatures online and on ground. These women have planned guerrilla activities in the wee hours of the morning, spray painting messages of resistance on streets and pavements on campus. Functioning mostly through word-of-mouth and social media, the group has been networking for a month now, and will be mobilizing student support at a Jan Sunwai planned for the 10th of October 2015.
For far too long women’s personal freedoms have been curtailed in the name of safety – safety that is conflated with our ‘honour’, our sexual availability, and our status as possessions, not people. These ideas become institutionalized, and therefore, harder to challenge, because what it comes down to is this – do you stand up for your rights, or do you bow your head, comply and hope for minimal damage? To the women of Pinjra Tod, this is an absolute no-brainer. Our rights are non-negotiable and if educational institutions, landlords, and even parents demand unquestioning obedience, they’ve got another thing coming.
Take campus conversations to the next level. Become a YKA Campus Correspondent today! Sign up here. You can also subscribe to the Campus Watch Newsletter, here.
You must be logged in to comment.
Vid
First of all, I think hostel rules for women are necessary because India is not a safe country. And let’s not pretend that students are the most responsible section of the society. We all are pretty much aware of the rape statistics of India. So, avoiding strangers and not using public transport alone at night are not bad suggestions, maybe they are for your own good. In a city, all kinds of people live – good, bad or ugly. One example I can give of my area. A few months back, a half-clothed girl was found lying on the road. After a late night party at someone’s apartment, she became high af and did not remember anything on how she ended up on the road. Result? All the nearby areas became strictly against bachelors. Hundreds of people were asked to vacate immediately. So many suffered after this stupid incident. So, the moral of the story is that if you think India will become America, so it won’t. It will still take hundreds of years for India to be like America. Ask the NRIs who live in America, will their parents accept their rebellious attitude like Pinjra tod? The answer is No. The best solution is – accept the reality and be practical.