We have more space now, says Shehla

"Life has changed for the better now, as our issues were not covered much before. But now we have much more space," she said.

Shehla Rashid Shora says the government is terrorising students with arrests. Photo: G. Ramakrishna

From being called “anti-national” and other insulting epithets, she has braved a lot since the night of February 9.

“If Pakistan was a country with social equality for women and minorities, then I would be the first one to raise that slogan,” Shehla Rashid Shora, vice-president of > Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union , told presspersons here on Sunday. One of the allegations was that slogans of ‘Pakistan zindabad’ were raised on the campus that night.

“Life has changed for the better now, as our issues were not covered much before. But now we have much more space,” she said.

“The government is terrorising students with arrests. In this era of privatisation, JNU offers affordable education for everyone. Even the child of a poor man can study here along with that of a rich person,” she said.

So what exactly happened on the night of February 9? Ms. Shora maintains that some slogans were raised which were not in good taste, and that the JNUSU had condemned them.

“None of the JNU students was involved in raising those slogans,” maintained Shehla.