Monday, 23 December 2024
Monday, 23 December 2024
Students at Jadavpur University and several other institutions marched through rain on Tuesday evening to protest the alleged gang rape and murder of a Dalit woman in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh. Many came on cycles — to avoid using public transport amid the Covid pandemic — to protest an incident that they said had “shaken” them. Metro spoke to some of the marchers
What has happened at Hathras has left us scared. Rapes are happening across the country. People are talking about the rape in Hathras because of the sheer brutality. One must take to the streets…. I cycled to the campus. My family would not allow me to travel by public transport, but I had to come.
Mayurakshi, a student at Jadavpur University
No one is safe in India now. Whether you are a woman or a peasant or a worker. Anyone who comes from a disadvantaged section of society is unsafe. At a time like this no can afford to remain a spectator. In UP, we have seen how the victim’s statement naming the accused is being negated. Now they are claiming she was not raped. As if burning her body in the dead of night was not enough…. We are demanding that the perpetrators be given stringent punishment.
Sanchita Ali, a former student at Bethune College
If we don’t take to the streets now, when will we? I feel ashamed to identify myself as an Indian before the rest of the world…. Just think of their audacity. Through the citizenship matrix they were trying to drive out Muslims. Now they are trying to pressure Dalits and create a situation where Brahmins will oppress everybody. We need to expose the conspiracy. It is not etched on my forehead whether I am the daughter of a Brahmin. So how will I survive?
Joyee, a former student at Jadavpur University
The way this case has been handled has left us shocked. The government is now saying that the rape has not happened…. If a woman says she has been raped, there cannot be any suspicion around that. Here the woman has given a statement before she died. We need to protest the way the government is dealing with the situation.
Roshni, a former student at Presidency College who is pursuing research in the US
There is no agency left to seek justice from. Earlier, there would at least be a pretension to delivering justice. Now even that is not there. We are faced with a two-pronged danger. One is brute muscle power, which was on display in Hathras. The other is constitutional fascism — the state is structuring the system in a way that it legitimises fascism.
Manas kumar Ghosh, an assistant professor at JU
