Anger is growing among women students at Dhaka University over the curfew rules in the women’s halls — the fixed night-time deadline, the restrictions on entry and various other prohibitions. Calling the rules harassing and discriminatory, they have demanded their immediate withdrawal. They have submitted a memorandum to the university vice-chancellor with a seven-day ultimatum, seeking to secure fair access and basic facilities for women students in the halls.
The memorandum was submitted on Monday at the office of the vice-chancellor, Professor Dr A B M Obaidul Islam, under the banner of the “We want halls without discrimination for women” platform.
The cultural secretary of the Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Hall union, Humayra Uponnash, said that although political identities and positions differ, everyone agreed on the question of women’s rights, dignity and safety. It was with that aim that a first meeting of women representatives from various halls was held at the DUCSU cafeteria on Sunday night.
Three main demands were set out in the memorandum. First, access to the university’s women’s halls must be ensured for all women students, resident and non-resident, on production of a valid university identity card. Second, the deadline at the main gate of the women’s halls must be extended, and students must be allowed to enter the hall by the late gate at any time on showing a valid identity card; the process of leaving the hall in an emergency must also be made free of harassment. Third, the mothers and sisters of resident students must be allowed inside the hall, and as far as the room, on condition that they submit the necessary identification.
The Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) has meanwhile demanded a relaxation of the curfew rules, a reasonable extension of hall entry hours and the installation of digital security gates, to ensure a safe, humane and student-friendly residential environment for the university’s women students.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report