The Students Federation of India has decided to follow in the footsteps of the women in Kerala who put up a 620 km long women's wall or vanitha mathil from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram. The students in Delhi University will be organising a women's wall on January 11 at 12.30pm followed by an open-to-all discussion on gender equality in front of the Arts Faculty of Delhi University.
The debate about whether women should be allowed to enter the Ayyappan Temple is not restricted to Sabarimala anymore. The issue of gender equality or the lack of it in a country which is steadily walking towards being named a developed state is disturbing. Cases of sexual harassment and discrimination on the basis of gender and caste are rampant in campuses as well. "Women in Indian campuses fight a battle every day. The wall is a symbol of our fight against gender injustice," said Mounica Sreesai, a postgraduate student of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics. "There are campuses which still do not have an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC). Even if there is an ICC, there are no elected student members in it and we would like to address this issue at our discussion. We have a Delhi University Women's association but we would like to put forward the idea of elected representatives in it as well. We would like to relate the gender injustice that prevails in general in society with the atrocities we face in campuses."
Campuses across the country have witnessed gender, caste and even institutional discrimination over the years and students have protested against injustice every time. "We would like to discuss issues that haunt our daily lives," she said. "We have a library that is open 24x7 but you won't find a single woman there at night simply because it's not safe. Why can't I use a resource that is meant for everyone?"
The students will also address issues of cyber harassment and bullying that a woman faces when she comes out and says that she has been a victim of discrimination or sexual harassment. "There have been several movements that fight for gender equality and we will talk about that as well," added Mounica who is also a speaker at the discussion.
