Mumbai: Protests over the campus dress code mandated in December by SNDT University are set to continue next week, student organisation Vidyarthi Bharti president Vijeta Bhonkar said on Saturday. In December, a circular put out on SNDT University’s Churchgate campus instructed students to stop dressing in an “improper manner” and to maintain a “formal dress code.” Erring students, it said , will be punished.
Following a protest by students on Friday, Vidyarthi Bharti members met with the management, including Vice Chancellor Shashikala Wanjari. Till now, the management has stood by its dress code rule. In a letter to the media last week, Ms. Wanjari said the dress code is not an assault on students’ rights, and has been adopted as per well-defined standards. “By common sense, we all know what is decent and formal in the context of.. academic institution premises,” Ms. Wanjari stated in the letter, instead urging the media to report on women’s issues that matter, especially their achievements and their struggle to educate themselves.
The Vice Chancellor and other faculty at SNDT have promised to respond to students’ demands over the next three or four days, failing which they will continue with their protests, Ms. Bhonkar said. “What defines what is decent or normal clothing for women? The definitions have not been laid out. As discussed with the management, rules specifically stating how women should and should not dress are extremely backward. Can the faculty guarantee that even if students comply to their dress code, they will not be harassed?”
Students find the nebulously defined ‘proper’ dress code restrictive and insulting; meanwhile, the faculty feels students are unnecessarily taking a stand and not following instructions. Students and members of Vidyarthi Bharti, an all-Maharashtra students’ association, will continue to protest next week even as they await a response from the college.
