NLIU Bhopal Students Accuse Director of Making Sexist Remarks, Demand Resignation

Bhopal: The campus of National Law Institute University (NLIU) Bhopal, has turned into a battleground between students and the administration. Students are up in arms over alleged sexist remarks made by the institute’s director to a girl student and have been protesting and boycotting classes for the last three days.

Protesters claim that the director, SS Singh, runs the college like a dictator and most students were anguished over a variety of issues. But the trigger for the protests were the alleged “obscene remarks” that have given students a chance to take the administration head on.

The student against whom the remark was made claimed she was called to the director’s room recently and was told, “Tumahre jaisi ladkiyan apni izzat aur sharm ko bechkar aati hain (girls like you come here by compromising your dignity and shame.”

Students said this is not the first time that Singh has used such indecent language and alleged anyone who raised their voice against him was failed in exams. One of the protesters, on condition of anonymity, told News18 that authorities were given written complaints about the sexist remarks but nothing happened.

The district administration on Saturday tried to intervene to end the protests but students were adamant they will not stop the agitation till the director quits or gives a written assurance that he would resign. SS Singh and senior faculty members also tried to persuade the students to call off the stir but failed.

Bhopal MP Alok Sanjar on Saturday told the media that he has received an e-mailed complaint from the students and would be forwarding it to union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

SS Singh, while talking to the media, rubbished the allegations and said some elements inside the institute were fuelling this campaign against him. He said the General Council led by Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court had appointed him and he would only resign if the council asked him.

One of the premier law institutions of the country, NLIU Bhopal has been mired in controversies under the tenure of Singh, who has been repeatedly accused of fuelling factionalism and regionalism in the campus.

The students have also claimed support from their counterparts from NLIU’s at Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kolkata. The agitating law students are also running a social media campaign against the college administration.