A Holi-day notice from DU: Stay inside your hostels

Protesting against the move, students at the Rajiv Gandhi Hostel for Girls (RGHG) held a march inside the complex Tuesday night and alleged that gates of neighbouring hostels were locked to stop other hostellers from joining them.

Speaking to The Indian Express, DU proctor Rajni Abbi, however, said the notice is sent every year. “This is nothing new… If students want to go somewhere, they can give an undertaking that they are going on their own responsibility. It cannot be that students want the protection of the hostel and their independence as well…”

“The notice has been circulated to both the boys and the girls hostels, but with girls we are a little overprotective… in the sense that it is a kind of a responsibility… We don’t want to restrict anyone from playing Holi, but it should be done in the right spirit,” Abbi said.

The proctor said she does not know of hostel gates being locked on Tuesday and claimed only residents of the Rajiv Gandhi Hostel for Girls and Undergraduate Hostel for Girls are raising problems.

The University also put out a poster, issued by the proctor’s office on the college website, which said: “Don’t play Holi on campus”. It further stated: “Hooliganism and eve-teasing in any form is strictly prohibited” and “police will penalise offenders for any attempt to create mischief in the name of Holi”.

Saima Zafar, a final-year student of Masters in Spanish and RGHG hostel president, said: “As soon as we got the notice, we expressed our dissent. Just because we are girls, you can’t lock us up. We had a meeting with hostel authorities last week, post which the administration said students can leave by signing an undertaking.” “This is not the first time this has happened, but our point is if you have oppressed us before, you can’t oppress us again,” she said.

Students further claimed a notice was sent to both the girls and boys hostels but the content was different. A resident of the International Student’s House, which houses male students, said: “We have not received any notice regarding restrictions of entry and exit. We have only received a notice stating there won’t be lunch and the mess will be closed.”

A resident of Jubilee Hall hostel added: “We have not received any notice on restrictions.”