DU: IP College Students Demand Apology From Principal Over Alleged Harassment During Fest

On March 28, 2023, Indraprastha College of Women (IPCW) conducted their annual fest (festival) - 'Shurti'23'. During the fest, a large group of aggressive boys, who were not allowed inside the campus, climbed the walls of the college and forcefully entered the premises. Several women students of the college alleged that these same men harassed them and disrupted the peaceful environment of the fest.

Some students tweeted that they were heard shouting, "Miranda IP dono hamara hai" (Miranda and IP are both ours) and "Miranda nahi chhoda toh IP bhi nahi chhodenge" (We didn't leave Miranda and we won't leave IP).

All colleges of Delhi University organise an annual fest (festival) that consists of multiple cultural activities, competitions, and in most places, concerts with big celebrities and singers. These concerts usually attract large crowds. However, a recent phenomenon that began in Gargi college in 2019 of boys forcefully and aggressively entering women's colleges and harassing women students has raised serious questions about women's safety in these colleges.

A similar incident was observed last year in Miranda College, where men had climbed the wall and forcefully entered the college premises; many students later complained of harassment. An increase in these incidents is forcing the administration of women colleges in DU to take measures such as restricting the college fest to only the students of the particular college, which the students have claimed to be a patriarchal and conservative practice and an equivalent of "locking women up inside their houses to keep them safe."

The IPCW incident has raised this question again. IPCW students have been protesting for the last two days, demanding an explanation and an apology from the principal, Poonam Kumria. The latter has refused to apologise.

IPCW Students Locked Inside The Campus

On March 31, a large crowd of almost 400 students marched to the principal office, demanding her resignation. Even after hours of sitting outside the office, the principal refused to meet the students. The students roared, "Poora IP maanga tha, Poora IP aaya hai" (You demanded the whole IP, the whole IP is here). There was heavy police deployment outside the campus premises. The students claimed that the gates were locked from the outside. After eight hours of sitting in, the students went home without any response from the administration.

A student who wanted to remain anonymous said, "While the students were tired and exhausted by the 8-hour-long protest on the second day of the same, the principal decided to call male police forces within the campus, illegally, to escort her to the cab she had called. In the protest held on March 29, she asked some faculty members to make a human chain so she could leave the campus 'safely' amidst the 'aggressive protests'."

The student further said, "Today, the students decided to form a human chain to stop the principal from exiting the college as the plight of students was still not addressed despite the long protest. This was when the police escorting her started misbehaving with the students, pushing them, stepping on them, hurt them, and the same situation that the college faced on March 28 was replicated. The same trauma was revived, and the principal did not bother to look back at the students; she ran away to get out of the college. All the students were traumatised by what they saw and experienced, and many injuries have also been reported."

Students Detained At Arts Faculty

Students' Federation of India (SFI) and activists from other organisations staged a demonstration in solidarity with the protesting students of IPCW. In their statement, they said they planned to protest outside IPCW college, but due to heavy police deployment, they had to shift the venue to Arts Faculty, DU. But even there, they were not spared. Police arrived at the venue and brutally mauled and detained the protesting students. The students were taken to different police stations, where FIRs were slapped against some activists.

Samaa, an SFI DU activist and a student of Hansraj college, said, "This is an unfortunate state of affairs which has been happening for the last few months. We are seeing how the administration, with the help of police, has been dealing with the students who have peacefully protested against the events happening on the university campus, be it harassment of women students in IPCW or illegitimate suspension of students for BBC documentary screening. This shows us the level of insensitivity of the University administration."

Most of the protestors said that this issue is not just a one-time issue of IPCW but an issue of answering the larger question of women's safety in women's colleges at DU. They said that the issue should not be answered by locking women up inside their campuses, hostels, or classrooms, but rather more productive solutions should be thought of that don't restrict women's mobility.