New Delhi:
After just one day of online classes, Lady Shri Ram College students returned to campus for offline classes amid protests over a teenager’s gangrape near the institute. But a big question still persists: What has changed? NDTV reported from ground zero to ask the students how they felt and what they wanted as a solution to the impending safety crisis.
A 17-year-old was raped by three men posing as police officers near the Aastha Kunj Park earlier this week. Students, especially women, have been protesting across Delhi, raising the issue of safety for women.
Standing outside the campus gate, Ananya, a student at the college, tells us that nothing has truly changed. “Calling for a day of online classes was never the solution. I don’t think any of us feel safe. Why isn’t anyone addressing how serious this can be? A situation like this slipping into normalcy is the worst thing. There must be larger action taken. Keeping women away from public spaces is far from the solution. Why should we stay inside while perpetrators roam free?”
Ananya isn’t the only one who feels this way. She is joined by scores of students from the Delhi University who have been staging demonstrations and demanding that women reclaim the streets at night. Raising larger, fundamental questions, the young women are seeking answers and accountability.
Speaking to NDTV on the condition of anonymity, another student from the college says, “Even while coming back, we kept contemplating which gate to use. While the campus itself is extremely safe, the back gate is highly unsafe, has poor lighting, and has men loitering around it. The online classes were only a cosmetic solution – larger, solution-oriented action is still needed.”
Echoing this sentiment is another student from the department of philosophy, who says that the decision to switch to online mode was also not that of the college administration. Citing events where men had made students uncomfortable around the campus, the student said, “We have seen men masturbating at the gate of the campus. Some auto-rickshaw drivers watch porn, while others even whistle and pass comments. There is a pink booth at the end of the lane, but the lane itself has no proper cameras or lighting.”
Adding to the larger sense of distrust that she feels, she said, “Such incidents make me believe that there is a devil hiding inside every man, waiting to be unleashed.”
Sakshi, a student from the commerce department who hails from Madhya Pradesh, explains how several students have purposely chosen accommodation nearby to counter the safety issue. “We purposely pay high rents and stay near the campus. Who wants to risk commuting in the capital after a certain hour? Coming from a small town means repeated calls from family members. When such cases come to the fore, the calls only increase, and so does the anxiety.”
From proper lighting at the back gate to safe passage for the students to walk through the secluded forest area, students now demand that the government and police look into larger questions of safety. In all, the students believe that calling off classes works against the notion that they uphold, which is to step out on the streets and reclaim them.
