A video circulating on social media showed a large group of people, allegedly ABVP members, entering the campus. Female students have alleged that lewd comments were passed at them.
Students at the all-women Miranda House of Delhi University have alleged that about 20 men, allegedly affiliated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), linked to BJP’s ideological arm Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), barged through the college gates and created a ruckus on the campus, shouting slogans and allegedly harassing the female students.
The incident took place on Monday morning amid the ongoing campaigning for the Delhi University Student Union (DUSU) polls scheduled to be held on September 22. The polls are being held after a gap of three years.
A video circulating on social media showed a large group of people entering the campus. The AISA, which protested in solidarity with the Miranda House students, alleged that the ABVP members, who did not have permission to enter the campus, entered and passed lewd comments at the female students.
“About 15-20 ABVP men entered the campus, along with the candidates campaigning for the DUSU elections. They started cat-calling and harassing the college students. When we got the information, we called for a protest in front of the principal’s office. Our demand was that an FIR be lodged on behalf of the college,” says AISA DU Secretary Anjali Sharma.
Miranda House principal Bijayalaxmi Nanda went on record to state that only four students, “and only women”, were granted permission to enter the college campus. “It seems clear from the video that a lot of men were brought in,” she says.
While the ABVP has denied the claims of harassment, Sharma says that vulgar comments were passed at the students of Miranda House. “They were also harassing people who were shooting a video there. One of the ABVP members, in fact, a woman member, twisted the hand of a student who was recording the incident,” she claims, adding that despite repeated requests, they have not received a copy of the FIR or the formal complaint lodged by the principal.
Calling it ABVP "hooliganism", the AISA released a statement in solidarity with the Miranda House students saying the incident highlights "that the original motivation of ABVP was not to campaign, but solely to flex their money and muscle power". They stated that the ABVP men also intruded into Aditi Mahavidyalaya and Deshbandhu College.
Miranda House has reportedly revised its guidelines for campaigning after the forced entry incident. Male candidates contesting for the student union polls or their supporters will no longer be allowed on campus without prior permission of the principal and without intimation of the local police station.
The incident is a reminder of a similar incident that took place in March at the Indraprastha College for Women, where a group of men scaled the college boundary walls and harassed students during an annual college fest. Similar incidents have also taken place at other DU women's colleges in the past, including at Miranda House in October last year.