‘We Broke the Hostel Locks at DU to Protest Unfair Curfew Timings’

A protest organised by residents of Delhi University’s women hostels.

(Photo Courtesy: Amisha Nanda/Altered by The Quint)

Video Editor: Deepthi Ramdas
Video Producer: Aastha Gulati

At Delhi University, students have been protesting against the arbitrary curfews and discrimination at women’s hostels since 27 February. It all started when a few residents of Ambedkar Ganguly Students’ House for Women broke open the lock of their hostel in protest of curfew timings and moral policing of the hostel administration.

Female residents’ of DU’s women hostels have been protesting against curfew timings.(Photo Courtesy: Amisha Nanda)

We were soon joined by women from several other hostels in what is now an indefinite sit-in against these arbitrary rules in a university that takes pride in its 100-year-old existence but has so much oppression.

“The 2015 UGC guidelines say that there can be no discriminatory rule applied to female residents only for safety reasons. Even then there is a curfew system here.”

Pallavi Raj, Student

The curfew is currently 10 pm for all hostels (except North Eastern Students' House for Women which has now changed the curfew to 12 am). What is the basis of this? Several students who are part of cultural societies practice till late. Many wish to access the library in late hours. If a student can’t get out of her room after the clock strikes 10, then how can she access the 24-hour library DU talks of introducing?

A sit-in protest began on 27 February.(Photo Courtesy: Amisha Nanda)

It is disappointing that several of our concerns fall on deaf ears. We are not asking
for facilities but basic rights and even this is taking so long to implement. In fact, the administration has tried to suppress this issue every time.

A protest march organised on 29 February from the Dhaka Complex in Mukherjee Nagar to the VC’s residence was similarly quashed.

A Kerala High Court judgment says that a woman must be treated equal to a man, so why the unequal treatment towards women residents?

The difference in fee for girls and boys is also one of the points of contention. The boys hostel fees is Rs 40,000 whereas the women hostel fees ranges from Rs 85,000 to 1.5 lakhs. Don’t we deserve affordable hostels?

Women demand their voices be heard.(Photo Courtesy: Amisha Nanda)

It has been more than two weeks since our protest. We will continue till the time the administrations’ oppressive attitude towards us changes and till all our demands are met.

(The Quint has reached out to various hostel authorities for their response. This copy will be updated when there is a response.)

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