JNU marches for Nirbhaya

New Delhi: The march to the Munirka bus stop from where Nirbhaya had boarded the bus s almost an annual ritual for Jawaharlal Nehru University students. The 2012 JNU students' union had led the pro ests. Students marched on Wednesday too, to remind the public of ground still to be covered --J S Verma Committee report is still largely unimplemented, the state still thinks CCTVs will solve the problem, society still believes it's a security issue and not one of women's freedom.
“Nobody was expecting centuries of oppression to be overthrown after a month of protests,“ says Sunny Kumar who, in 2012, was Delhi state secretary of the All India Students Association and an active part of the protests. “What changed was it introduced women's issues to political debates. Earlier, gender rights was part of the social domain. After the protests, it became a factor in elections.“
“The issue gained prominence but the J S Verma Committee report, which is very comprehensive and progressive, isn't being implemented. Politicians making gender insensitive comments aren't even served notices. The number of cases is increasing but conviction rates are low,“ says VLenin Kumar who was JNUSU president in 2012. “The state is thinking in terms of protecting women's honour where it has nothing to do with honour. It has stopped sex education and gender sensitisation, which are crucial.“
“It's not a security issue but one of freedom,“ argues Ashutosh, AISA member and one of the marchers. AISA had called it the Bekhauf Azadi campaign.