After college objects to shorts, 19-year-old Assam girl takes exam wrapped in curtain
Mangalore Today News Network
Sonitpur, Sep 17, 2021: A 19-year-old girl in Assam’s Sonitpur district had no choice but to take an entrance examination wrapped in a curtain after college authorities objected to her being dressed in shorts.
The incident took place at Girijananda Chowdhury Institute of Management & Technology in Tezpur, where entrance examinations conducted by the Assam Agriculture University (AAU) were held on September 15.
Jublee Tamuli, 19, travelled from Biswanath Chariali to Tezpur with her father to take the entrance exam. Jublee said there was no hitch when she entered the exam centre, but trouble started as she was about to enter the examination hall.
“The authorities had allowed me to enter the examination venue after conducting proper checks. When I was on my way to the examination hall, an observer asked me to wait while all other students were allowed to enter. I had all my documents including admit card, Aadhaar card, photocopy, but they didn’t check my documents and told me that short dresses are not allowed. I asked why and showed them it was not mentioned on the admit card, they told me that you have to know. How can I just know something like this when it wasn’t even mentioned on the admit card?” questioned Jublee Tamuli.
The young girl detailed the ordeal that followed. She asked the observer to speak with her father but he refused to. He then told Jublee to ask her guardian to bring pants for her to wear. Her father rushed to the market to buy pants. While she was waiting on tenterhooks, two girls approached her and asked her to drape a curtain around her legs. She then appeared for the exam with a curtain wrapped around her.
“It was the most humiliating experience of my life,” she said.
Speaking to India Today, Jublee demanded why the college has such archaic notions about what a woman can and can’t wear and the rationale behind the “no shorts” diktat.
“Is it a crime to wear a short dress? Many girls wear short dresses. If they [college] don’t allow it then it should be mentioned on the admit card,” Jublee said.
On the other hand, Dr Abdul Baquee Ahmed, Principal of Girijananda Chowdhury Institute of Management & Technology, told India Today TV that he was not present in the institution when the incident happened.“The entire examination was conducted by the Assam Agriculture University and we had provided our classrooms and other technical, logistical support to them. They outsourced our institution and used the institution just as an examination venue. Even the observers, invigilators were from outside,” Dr Abdul Baquee Ahmed said.
Courtesy:India Today