Anjali had been working on her paper for eight hours straight. It was time for a breather.
She called Suhani on her phone, "Do you want to step out for some air?"
In 5 minutes, the young researchers were on their bike taking a ride around the campus. The cool breeze calmed Anjali's mind.
This is the great thing about campuses like JNU. It was 2.36 am and she could step out for a ride and it was safe.
Or so she thought.
As they took a turn on the Ring Road, the women crossed three men on a bike. They didn't pay much heed. They were just happy to feel the breeze on their face. Seconds later, Anjali noticed the bike was following them and before she knew it they were riding beside them — singing, sniggering while the one almost hanging from the back of the bike creepily staring at them like there's no tomorrow.
Anjali took the turn towards the Bramhaputra Hostel and saw people. Aah. The chill that ran down her spine began to recede. She stopped. "They won't make the mistake of doing anything here," she told Suhani, but it was more of a reassurance to herself. The men stopped not very far away. Anjali and Suhani sat down. A bike ride to clear their mind had ended up irritating them.
One of the men walked up and down the road in front of them. Staring. Anjali was triggered.
"Why are you following us?" she confronted him.
"You talking to me?" asked the man as if he had no idea of what was happening.
"Yes, you."
"There's been some misunderstanding, madam. I am just taking a walk."
"So this is the only 50 meters left on the planet? You couldn't have possibly walked anywhere else?"
Before he could reply. He gazed over her back. There was a group of students coming their way. He paused for a second and turned back, walked up to the bike and left with his friends unceremoniously.
This is a true incident. The names have been changed to protect their identity. If this happened on the streets of our country, not many would be surprised. But this incident took place last month inside the Jawaharlal Nehru University, which is known to be one of the few liberal spaces that are there in India. And this is not a one-off incident. Students have had to face similar situations more often than you would imagine.
Has the security been lax since 2016?
The JNU campus has seen a sudden rise in the incidence of stalking and harassment recently. While some said there is a lack of sensitisation among the new students who have come in since the Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) was disbanded in 2017, others point out the lax security ever since the lockdown was relaxed. This has led to men from outside slipping into the campus, sometimes drunk, according to students.
JNU has always been an open campus where other people also come in — mostly because it is a residential campus and there are professors who can have visitors over. "People used to come to the Dhaba as well. But, during COVID, the university had said that they won't allow anyone inside the campus without an ID card. Then how are men on motorbikes and cars coming in and harassing us?" asked Apeksha Priyadarshini, a JNUSU Councillor and a student. "After the private security firm Cyclops took over, the investment on security has increased and the number the security guards has dwindled. Earlier, there used to be at least one guard around every corner. But now the CCTV cameras have replaced them. But this footage is never being put to use," she added.
Can students make a difference?
A majority of the 'outsiders' spotted on campus have got access to the campus because of their friends, according to some of the students. "When friends of a student come to visit, they (students) tell the visitors their room number so that the guards let them in. But this is dangerous. What if they use those credentials to come in even at a time when the student is not even there and cause trouble. It's hard to keep track on such a big campus. A better alternative would be that we go to the gate to receive them," said Kratika Sen, Vice-President of the JNU unit of ABVP. She has been on campus since 2017 and is pursuing her Masters in French currently.
A desperate need for sensitisation?
Why do they not complain to the authorities? Sharanya (name changed) said that she does not even go up to the guards to complain because they would just ask her to go inside. "Now, the excuse is COVID. They would send us inside while boys are let to roam around," she added. "A few times the guards have also misbehaved with us and even circulated our numbers to whoever they know," she added.
And institutional repercussions? JNU had a GSCASH body which was disbanded and the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) was set up in its place in 2017. While the Supreme Court is yet to decide on whether the GSCASH and ICC can coexist and be merged, following the example of the University of Hyderabad, or if the ICC will be the only body in place for complaints and redressals for JNU students.
But why do they need GSCASH? JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh said that students are scared to go to the ICC because there is no justice but only judgment being served on the victim. "Moreover, the GSCASH was not just a complaints body. It also used to organise sensitisation drives among students, faculty and the non-academic staff. This has a major effect on the minds of the people. The people coming into the campus are coming from the same society and have similar prejudices. The aim is to try and inform and sensitise them to make them understand what is good and bad. Even women often do not know what to call harassment or the difference between bad touch and good touch," she added.
What's been done so far?
Why isn't the JNUSU doing anything in this matter? "We have been running sensitisation drives but it is not possible for just the students, without the administration, to run the GSCASH. It needs a lot of procedures which involves the university," added Aishe. "I have been on campus for more than four years now and things have changed drastically. The new students who are coming in are not as sensitised nor are they scared of consequences because the ICC is not working smoothly. If a complaint is made, the attacker gets away most of the time. When the GSCASH was more proactive and justice was served," she said and added that they have been asking the university to take cognisance of the matter but they haven't said much.
When Anagha Pradeep, the GSCASH representative from the JNUSU went to meet the Chief Security Officer to file a complaint, she was turned down because GSCASH is no longer a recognised body in the university. But CSO Naveen Yadav did reply to the mail Anagha sent. "All relevant steps are being taken to keep this campus safe and secure for all residents," read the mail.
The ABVP too wrote to the administration a few days back. "We have zero tolerance towards sexual harassment. We do not take any ideological stand to defend sexual harassment and molestation," said Shivam Chaurasia, President, ABVP JNU.
Queries to the Registrar, Dr Ravikesh, went unanswered even after the administration confirmed he would be the right person to comment on this.
