Jamia students' feminist protest draws university's ire

Four Jamia Milia Islamia students have been served with a show-cause notice by the varsity’s administration for putting up sanitary napkins with written messages across the campus without seeking prior permission for their campaign.

“We have received various complaints from students and teachers about the campaign. We have nothing against the message being conveyed by these students, but the method used is not appropriate,” said Jamia spokesperson, Mukesh Ranjan.

Inspired by a German activist, Elonë, who had initiated a similar drive against sexism that is recognisable on social media by the hashtag #padsagainstsexism, a group of Jamia students had a few days back pasted across their campus sanitary napkins bearing feminist messages.

Some of the messages read, “Rapists rape people, not outfits”; “My name is not baby” and “Menstruation is natural, rape is not”.

“We as a university advocate women’s empowerment, but every institution has its norms and protocols. The students did not follow them and, hence, have been asked to explain their action. For any activity on campus, students are required to seek permission from the authorities, which they ignored,” Ranjan said.

The four students, including two girls, have been asked to respond to the notice served by the varsity’s Chief Proctor by March 31, he added.

Image: One of the sanitary pads displayed which reads the message 'The streets of Delhi belong to women too.' Photograph: padsagainstsexism-Delhi/Facebook