Change mindsets, not our clothes: DU girls

Delhi University’s new “safety” diktat for girls, don’t wear shorts and skirts, has left students and activists fuming. According to the list of dos and don’ts issued to students who are on a week-long trip to Punjab, girl students are not allowed to wear shorts, skirts and spaghetti tops there.

Delhi University’s new “safety” diktat for girls, don’t wear shorts and skirts, has left students and activists fuming. According to the list of dos and don’ts issued to students who are on a week-long trip to Punjab, girl students are not allowed to wear shorts, skirts and spaghetti tops there.

“Why don’t we focus on changing the mindset rather than asking us what to wear and what not?” says Himanshi Upadhyay, a student of Hindu College.

The excursion, called the Gyanodaya Educational Trip, is hosting 900 students from the university, including foreign students. The committee in-charge for the trip calls this advisory “a precautionary measure as the trip would require students to interact with different people”.

"If we can wear these clothes to college, why not on a trip, provided members of the faculty will be accompanying us?" asks Kajal Jain, a student of Ramjas College. Activist Nandini Rao of the Citizen’s Collective Against Sexual Assault adds, "The university should take real precautionary measures instead of asking girls what to wear and what not!"

Even as the participating students received the dress diktat, college principals say they have not received any such requirement in writing. “We received a formal letter inviting students to the trip. However, dress code was not mentioned anywhere in the letter,” says Dr Vijay Laxmi Pandit, principal, Rajdhani College.