Girls vie for top slots in AMU union

Historic first

For the first time in history,  girl students are vying for top posts in the students’ union,  polls for which were held on Wednesday amid tight security. In all, there are 50 candidates, eight of them girls, in the fray for 13 posts, including the posts of president, vice-president and honourary secretary.

It is not that girls had never contested the polls, but until this year, their contests were confined only to the members of the executive council. They never contested for the posts of president, vice-president and secretary, AMU officials said.

Zohra Naqvi, Bushra Khan and Ruhi Zubair were some of the women members of the  AMUSU executive council. In those times, however, there was a separate union for girl students.“It is a positive development...by and large the AMU fraternity has welcomed it barring a small section,” Mohammad Abid, professor in the political science department, told Deccan Herald from Aligarh.  

Dr Naima Khatoon, professor in psychology department at AMU, also termed the participation of girls in the polls as a “good and positive sign,”  while hastening to add that it could lead to “discipline-related problems.”

“The rules and regulations for inmates of girls’ hostels are very strict...girls are not allowed to go out after 5 pm, without the written permission from the warden,” she said. Some AMU students and teachers, however, feel that there could be problems if rules were relaxed and girls were allowed to take part in polls. “Their (girls) safety will be endangered,” said an AMU teacher.

The mixed reactions notwithstanding, girls undertook an emotive and aggressive campaigning. Whether they win or lose, history has already been made.