[AMU] ‘The rules will be revised’, says Provost of Girls’ Hostel

Snowy Rahi | December 02, 2016

Youth Ki Awaaz organized its flagship event Converge on November 12, 2016. Converge provided a platform and invited speakers from different strata of society, making the discussions and events ranging from socio-political issues to those related to art.

During this event there was a speech delivered by Sabika Abbas Naqvi who is a prominent member of Pinjra Tod: Break the Hostel Locks . Her speech was about how females face misogyny due to the bondage of a patriarchal mindset of people.

Throughout her speech she mentioned different rules that allegedly portray sexism which are wide spread throughout the universities of India. While her allegations regarding the hostel timings, the sexist outlook and the inequality of gender were true and displayed the essence and depth with which her organization is working towards breaking the hostel locks. She spoke a sentence regarding the restrictions that the girls at Aligarh Muslim University allegedly have to face and that does not hold ground in reality.

The rules and regulation of AMU need revision. Some of the rules like only the Sunday outings, the restrictions put on a girl on what to wear inside her hostel and the discrimination between the privileges that are given to the boys but not the girls. Sabika Abbas Naqvi was right when she talked about these rules existing in the University.


The former allegation is not a rule that is written down but sadly it is true that a girl is advised to wear an Indian wear keeping in regard the culture of the university but there is no such rule which debars a girl from wearing the Western outfit.


She pointed out a few of the rules from the sixteen mentioned rules for girls. She talked about the rule in which a girl is not allowed to wear anything but “Indian”, she pointed out how there is a rule in which the girls are prohibited to go to restaurants. The former allegation is not a rule that is written down but sadly it is true that a girl is advised to wear an Indian wear keeping in regard the culture of the university but there is no such rule which debars a girl from wearing the Western outfit.

Coming down to the second rule that she pointed out how the girls are restricted from visiting restaurants, market places and the like, did exist but is no longer practiced. It is due to the carelessness of the students as well as the authorities that the rules no longer implemented were not modified on paper as well.

Her speech, various posts on social media and through other medium the residents of the University learned that a rule which is no longer being implemented on them is still being talked about rather than the issues that are still present and need attention.

“These rules are present is true but no one follows them is also true.” says Aisha Zafar studying at AMU.

This generated frenzy among the female residents of the University. “The havoc would not have been created if someone would have talked about these rules and asked them to be revised. But it is never too late to take an initiative,” said Sharjeel Usmani, a student of Political Science at AMU.

On talking to the Provost of Abdullah Hall about the issue and on asking her that since the rules are not implemented but are stated and creating much misunderstanding and giving a negative impression about the university, Prof. Roomana N. Siddiqui said “We will look into the matter. The rules will be revised.”

Published on

03/12/2016 20:13

India Standard Time

Snowy Rahi

Snowy Rahi

Snowy Rahi studies Psychology Honors at Women’s College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. She is a member of varsity’s Debating and Literary Club. She also contributes to The Times of India (Aligarh Edition). She aspires to be a writer.