When professor Kanak Sarkar wrote a Facebook post detailing how virgin girls are best suited to be brides and likened them to a sealed bottle/packet, it sparked off outrage across Jadavpur University. Students came out to protest the misogynistic comments that the International Relations Professor had so shamelessly propagated. As a consequence, he was divested of his duties and publicly shamed. However, this was neither the first case of sexual misconduct in Jadavpur University nor across other college campuses in West Bengal which have unfortunately been infamous for the same.
The rampant sexual harassment coupled with a system that perpetuates misogyny has made educational institutions a ‘well of death’ that women need to dodge every day to acquire a degree.
Talking of sexual harassment and misconduct at educational institutions, one cannot but refer to the harrowing case of Kunjila Mascillamani, a student at the Satyajit Ray Film And Television Institute (SRFTI). After being allegedly harassed for years together at the hands of professors of the premier film school, she tried to end her life twice, unsuccessfully. In her letter, she compared SRFTI to a sexual harassment zoo and stated how her appeals for justice had fallen on deaf ears. In a video, she stated how her report stated having no eyewitnesses.
“Tell me, when a man decided to sexually harass a woman, does he call ten other people to watch? Do they not realise how ridiculous it is to demand witnesses in cases of sexual assault?” she asked. She spoke of how ineffective the workplace laws were, and how she was repeatedly asked to go to the Police despite having legal provisions against sexual harassment, at the workplace.
Kunjila’s case is not the only one. In 2016, West Bengal clocked the fourth highest number of cases of sexual harassment and came second in the number of crimes against women. The numbers are a grim reminder of how we have failed collectively to provide a safe space for women for acquiring something as basic as education. These come at a time when feminism in India is being frowned upon by the urban and the privileged elite classes.
In 2014, a girl at Jadavpur University was allegedly molested by a group of male students. She was dragged into the boys’ hostel and repeatedly molested by those who were later identified to be undergraduate engineering students at the University. Not only colleges, but also premier universities such as the National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) whose chancellor is the CJI himself, suffer from crimes of these sorts. In 2013, a junior staff at the NUJS complained of molestation at the hands of Siddharth Guha, the then Assistant Registrar of the University. The Internal Complaints Committee looked into the matter but was accused of partisanship by the victim. She alleged that she was asked as to why she filed the complaint and whether she would like to reconcile. Furthermore, she said that the University granted leave to the accused on a medical report of jaundice, that the accused had procured from a gynaecologist.
All of these and more go on to show and reflect just one hard truth of Indian society in general. We have internalized victim shaming and toxic masculinity to such an extent that every time we come across a case of sexual harassment, we tend to look for ways ‘to settle the matter’ or ‘bury it.’ Even as we progress towards the second decade of the twenty-first century, India’s condition in gender equality and culture regarding women reflects a mindset of the middle ages. According to the Ministry of Human Resources and Development (MHRD), the number of sexual harassment cases on campuses has increased by a whopping 50% in the year 2016-17 as compared to 2015-16, another example of the sorrow state of affairs we are in.
Patriarchal culture runs deep even in Kolkata’s intellectual and influential poetry circuit. Eklavya Chaudhari, a student of the Jadavpur University and a rising poet was accused by as many as thirteen women of inappropriate behaviour, even amounting to sexual misconduct. There were protests across the university to take action against the boy and his mother who held the post of the Head of English department in the same university.
At Visva Bharati University, a girl complained of harassment at the hands of three of her seniors who allegedly molested and sexually harassed her a number of times. Even as the University unequivocally denied the allegations, there were reports where the Vice Chancellor and the principal were accused of trying to hush the matter and even asked the victim to negotiate than going for legal recourse.
Going beyond the college campuses, ghastly incidents rocked schools as well. At the prestigious GD Birla School at Kolkata, two PT teachers were arrested for molesting a four-year-old girl.
Even as I mention all these horrific incidents in writing, it obliterates my vision of securing a feminist future where women have equal rights, a safe space of existing without being treated like pieces of meat that are to be prowled upon. In a seemingly strict and secured place such as educational institutions, if there are so many loopholes and predators, what would the condition be like in workplaces and public forums?
To end this problem, we need to address the elephant in the room and start amplifying voices of women who have been, for long, subjugated. We need to work towards creating an inclusive space for the benefit of all.