Professor's sexist 'slice of melon' remark draws ire

Sexist comments made by a Kozhikode-based assistant professor  about the girl students in his college have set off a student agitation that cut across political affiliation.

His misogynist take on the students' dressing styles, especially  a comparison between they way they "expose their chest" and a slice of melon,  has also led to a social media outrage.

Jouhar Munavvir T had made disparaging comments  about the dressing styles followed by girl students in Farook Training College in Kozhikode, where he teaches, during a counselling event.

In an undated video footage of his speech, Jouhar is seen deploring the Muslim women who constitute most of the students in the college, saying "The girls wear purdahs but they wear them in such a way that their leggings are exposed. Just imagine, this is the style now. And they tie a scarf around their head, leaving a part of their chest, a body part that attracts men, exposed. It's like a slice of melon, cut out to show how ripe the fruit is,"  he says in the video.

The college website lists 'Social Studies Education' as the assistant professor's 'area of specialisation'.

On Monday, students affiliated to different political parties organised protests near the college. Women's groups have demanded action against the assistant professor.

On social media, the debates also gave way, briefly, to dissent through a 'bare breast' campaign.  Images of a woman holding watermelons on to her bare breasts were removed by Facebook soon after they were posted.

The campaign, however, continues to divide opinion and has opened more conversations on gender politics and power play in objectification of women.