'Police Chased Us Even Into Our Hostel Rooms. We Want An Apology From The V-C'

BANARAS Hindu University’s campus is one of the largest in Uttar Pradesh. It is accessible through several gates, the most renowned and biggest of which overlooks Lanka, a locality in Varanasi. It is at this gate that hundreds of students of BHU, mostly women scholars, were protesting since 6 am on September 21. It is from this historic site that they were lathicharged by police and chased into their hostels. Videos of the all-woman crowd being beaten by police have since gone viral, sending shockwaves through the country.

The women students had come out in protest after an incident of sexual harassment on the campus, for which the BHU administration blamed the victim. She was the first to step out to protest against the unequal treatment of women in the university and the lack of basic safety norms there. She was soon joined by other hostel residents, and as she shaved her head in protest, became a symbol of all BHU women students’ demands.

- Pragya Singh

Banaras Hindu University student Seema (name changed) was part of the entire seq­u­ence of events since September 21 and faced a police lathicharge which left her injured. In a conversation with Pragya Singh, she describes their ordeal ever since they raised demands for greater security against sexual harassment.

There are allegations that the protests are politically motivated. Are you and other protestors affiliated to any party or outfit?

I am just a student of BHU, not affiliated to any political party or outfit. On September 21 I saw a female student surrounded by three-four members of the proctorial board. The proctors were asking the girl why she was outside in the evening. I guessed immediately that she must have complained about sexual harassment. I went to my room after this, but when I awoke the next morning there was talk about a protest. The students were agitated because the girl who I had seen last evening had been blamed for the sexual harassment she had faced. That girl had come with other students of her hostel to protest at the Singh Dwar of BHU from 6 am onwards on September 22.

How did the protest become so big?

Later, everybody else started joining the protest. Everybody came for their own causes bec­ause there are many issues at BHU that students face. Slowly, as students arrived on the campus, the protest grew in size from a handful; then, a few hundred joined in, both women and men. The V-C almost met us twice, but finally didn’t show up. There was a delegation of four-five whom he apparently saw, but nothing came out of it.

What kind of slogans were you actually raising?