Pinjra Tod: Women’s body accepts group’s demands

Terming their demands as “genuine”, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) member Farheen Mallick on Saturday told members of Pinjratod — a group of students from various universities in Delhi protesting against “sexist” hostel rules — that a meeting would be organised soon to discuss their charter of demands.

Mallick was speaking at a public hearing presided over by a ‘jury’ of academicians and activists, organised by the collective at Jantar Mantar. The group came into prominence in August after it started an online petition addressed to DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal, asking her to “take action” against “discriminatory hostel rules”. It had organised Saturday’s event to get its charter passed by students at large and the ‘jury’, before handing it over to the DCW in person.

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“I accept your charter of demands…We will go through it and call you for a meeting after a few days to discuss it. But I don’t see a problem; all your demands seem genuine,” said Mallick.

The charter of demands included extending curfews of all women’s hostels , abolishing the concept of local guardians, caps on night-outs, and setting up an Internal Complaints Committees against sexual harassment in all universities.