Mumbai: JJ medical students protest 'no short skirts' diktat

The students protested saying the diktat encroaches on their right to dress as they want

Women students of the state-run JJ Hospital's Grant Medical College on Sunday protested against what they claimed was an attempt at moral policing by authorities, through a diktat asking them not to wear "short skirts" and to sit separately from male counterparts during events.

The authorities came up with these instructions after a Holi event on March 21 in the campus of the reputed medical institution witnessed ruckus and unruly scenes by some youth. The protesting students on Sunday wore ankle-length clothes and covered their faces to show their resentment towards the circular with the diktat from authorities.

The college administration shared two posts detailing the instructions, one on Facebook and the other on a WhatsApp group of hostel inmates, a protesting student said. "The posts are said to be issued by Dean Dr Ajay Chandanwale and Warden Shilpa Patil. They said that female students must not wear short skirts, and should sit separately during a college event. It also instructed the girls to return to their hostels before 10 pm," the student said.

Speaking to reporters at the protest venue, she said, "We condemn this decision of the college administration as it unnecessarily encroaches on our right to dress the way we want. Why should everyone be punished for the handiwork of some unruly students?"

The second instruction, a student said, was about an annual college event, Astitva, held recently. "Male and female students were asked to sit separately during the Astitva event. We fail to understand the logic behind this since the male and female students are good friends, and want to sit together. It is ridiculous on the part of the authorities to come up with such a diktat," she said.

"The girls were not in the mood to give in and it ended finally with other two conditions put on us, wherein the authorities told us that we will be allowed to wear whatever we want if we agree that girls and boys will not only sit separately for the show but will also dance separately for the DJ night," claimed another student.

Dean Dr Chandanwale said, "We expect female students to dress appropriately. This alone was my message to them. There was some ruckus during Holi celebrations, so we decided to take strict measures."

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