[The PIL has been filed by some who themselves appear to be no part of the AMU. But, then gender justice is everybody's business. The "Press Release" by the students' unions, at sl. no. II below, provide vital inputs.]
I/II. http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/allahabad-high-court-issues-notices-to-amu-v-c-registrar-in-library-row/ Allahabad High Court issues notices to AMU V-C, registrar in library row Written by Prashant Pandey | Allahabad | Posted: November 15, 2014 1:48 am The Allahabad High Court on Friday issued notices to the Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar of Aligarh Muslim University seeking their response on a PIL seeking direction to the varsity authorities to allow entry of women students into the Maulana Azad Library. Hearing the PIL filed by Deeksha Dwivedi and other law students, a division bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P K S Baghel fixed November 24 as next date of hearing. A controversy has erupted over the AMU not allowing its women undergraduates access to the library. The Human Resource Development Ministry has also sought an explanation on the issue. The PIL was filed Thursday, but the Divison Bench took up the matter out-of-turn on Friday following a mention by Smriti Kartikeya, the counsel of the petitioners Issuing the notices to the respondents, which also includes the Union of India, the bench said, "Prima facie, it appears that ***any effort to regulate a problem of 'over-crowding' in a campus library must be on a gender neutral basis"*** [emphasis added]. The court said a breach of gender neutrality involves "an infraction of Constitutional norms in relation to the guarantees of equality under Article 14 and of gender identity under Article 15 of the Constitution". It further said that "in the meantime", it was expected that the Registrar and the V-C "deal with the matter as responsible statutory authorities should". While AMU's counsel, Ikram Ahmad, could not appear before the court due to personal reasons, the bench issued notices, while taking note of the fact that the PIL was based on newspaper clippings of leading English dailies, including The Indian Express. The reports raised the issue of women undergraduates not being granted access to the Maulana Azad Library. Amid the controversy, the V-C, Lt Gen (Retd) Zameer Uddin Shah, sought to explain that women undergraduates were not allowed because of "lack of space". He had also allegedly said that the presence of women will only increase the number of male students visiting the library manifold. Apart from this controversy, the AMU V-C is already facing another petition in which his "eligibility" to be on the post has been questioned. II. http://www.qaumiawaz.in/ AMU Students' Union, AMU, Aligarh Press Release of the AMU Students' Union and Women's College Students' Union The AMU Students' Union and Women's College Students' Union feel shocked and angered by intense negative portrayal of Aligarh Muslim University in certain sections of the media. The anti-women depiction of the historical campus of AMU is not only factually wrong but also an unnecessary sensationalization of a simple administrative issue into an issue of gender bias. ***The fact of the matter is that as Maulana Azad Library itself has more than 2700 registered female members including PG students, research Scholars and students of various professional courses, who benefit from it on daily basis.*** [Emphasis added.] It is only the students of the Women's College (which is located at a distance of 3 kms from the main campus), students of Senior Secondary schools (Boys and Girls inclusive) and students of University Poly-technique, who are not members of the central library. Since, Maulana Azad Library lacks space to entertain entire student fraternity, so separate arrangements have been made on the basis of departments, faculties and residential halls through book banks and seminar libraries. Also, the case is not that the Women's College students are deprived from any library services; instead the college has its own library meant to cater the requirements of the college girls. Furthermore, the demand of the Women's College students' Union is regarding updating the existing library and providing easy access to the books of Maulana Azad Library. The entire Alig fraternity stands firmly behind these legitimate demands and we will ensure that strong and effective book sharing mechanisms are put in place. We again reiterate that it is an administrative issue and not an issue of gender bias. It has been brought to our notice that the HRD Minister has served a notice to the Vice-Chancellor and has called his statement an "insult to daughters". It appears that HRD minstry was also swayed by the negative media campaign; However, we would like to state that if the HRD Ministry is so concerned about the students of AMU (its girls students in particular) it should immediately sanction funds for the upgradation of the Women's College Library. Moreover, it must overrule its decision of reducing the funds allotted for the University. ***We also condemn the irresponsible and careless remarks of the Vice- Chancellor. We would like to reiterate that the Vice- Chancellor should stop making statements unbecoming of his stature and should ensure that the grievances and problems of the students of AMU particularly those of Women's College are addressed immediately.*** [Emphasis added.] Today, both the students' Unions together led a massive students' march from University Library to Bab e Syed and reiterated this message. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
