Gender Inequality in Aligarh Muslim University

Gender Inequality in Aligarh Muslim University

A woman walked for ten hours in different parts of New York and was harassed 100 times (Watch). Such is the capacity of media and social media that another girl in India picked up the idea and walked in all areas, some densely populated, of Mumbai, but no one eve-teased on her (Watch). The girl wore a top and short skirt. Then came an election nomination issue from the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election where Mohammad Yousuf Bhat declared his unemployed daughters as his “liability”-burden-in his nomination papers (Read). And, recently, Times Now hosted a debate (How long can we use 'culture' as a defense for sexism?) on gender inequality in Aligarh Muslim University, questioning an administrative decision banning undergraduate female students from the University's central library (Read in brief).  

Though most education in India is co-ed, there are schools and colleges which are girls-only. Traditionally, girls-only schools and colleges were, though never said explicitly, an effort to keep boys and girls separate from each other. Founders believed that girls and boys in schools and colleges were too young to have interactions with their opposite sex. Or, girls-only schools and colleges attracted parents to send their daughters to the institutions for above reasons. Women's College of Aligarh Muslim University is a girls-only college for undergraduate female students. However, this is not the only girls-only college in Aligarh; Tika Ram Kanya Mahavidyalaya is also a girls-only college in Aligarh, but this is not affiliated with Aligarh Muslim University.

Aligarh Muslim University has come a long way in terms of male and female student interactions: there was a time when women in graduate courses studied literally in purdah (a curtain divided male students from female ones), but such is not the case any more. I had a chance to know some wonderful Muslim women and even visit their homes. Maybe the library ban will also change with time.

But, the problem is not girls going to the library; the problem is the mindset of boys. There are different standards for boys and girls when they are in a romantic relationship, not only in Aligarh Muslim University but in most of India. While a romantic relationship is a symbol of masculine attractiveness and is often boasted by boys, it is often a blot for girls if not culminated into a marriage. Something related to this is also safety of girls, or (excuse me for bluntness) her rape, in most of India, after sunset: I never saw a girl at library or any other place after sunset while male students studied and talked and laughed at the canteen until midnight. A few times I also witnessed gossiping about a girl who dressed non-traditionally. 

A view of the front of Maulana Azad Library

I cannot imagine allowing girls in the library without restraining such male gaze and dealing with female sunset curfew. One of the ways may be to put women in power, in Aligarh Muslim University administration. Has any woman ever been president of the student union or vice-chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University? Women as vice-president/secretary of the student union and registrar and director of some institute are still subordinate to some men.  Well, why only Aligarh Muslim University? Isn't this the case with other Indian Universities?  There is no quota for them, as in politics, and patriarchy seems to be too strong.

One of the solutions can be a mandatory course on gender issues and equality for all students. As mindsets change, and students are educated, there should be no need for such a ban at all. Maulana Azad Library is richer than women's college library; in fact, it is one of the richest libraries of the world. Availability of a richer library should better prepare girls academically. An early interaction with male students should  not harm them morally or culturally either. We are in a a world where men and women need to learn to co-exist, and the sooner we learn, the better it is. Also, can an eastern society teach western education and not modify traditional culture? Is there something wrong with borrowing something good, if it is good?