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Allahabad HC lifts ban on undergraduate girl students in AMU library

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ANI Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh)

The Allahabad High Court on Friday asked the Aligarh Muslim University to provide undergraduate girl students' access to the Maulana Azad Library and asked Vice Chancellor Zameer Uddin Shah to explain his previous controversial statements over girl students visiting it.

"We had filed a Public Interest Litigation here against the VC's recent statements. The court took a serious note of the issue. The judges said that according to Article 15 there can be no discrimination on the basis of gender, caste or sex. The court said that the university can take steps like having a time limit or allowing girls and boys on alternate days," said lawyer Smriti Kartikeya.

 

The next hearing on this case has been fixed for November 24.

Lieutenant General Shah had been quoted as saying that the girls had been denied access to the Maulana Azad library because 'boys will flood the library if girls are allowed and there isn't enough space'.

The comment sparked widespread outrage with Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani saying that the comments were not just saddening as a woman but also led to a feeling of resentment.

Lieutenant General (retd.) Shah, however, said he had been misquoted, adding that the university stringently works to provide equal rights and opportunities to women.

He explained that women already have access to the library, adding that he had made no statements about male students being bothered by them.

The Vice Chancellor also noted that till the Maulana Azad library is expanded, it cannot accommodate any more students.

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First Published: Nov 14 2014 | 5:10 PM IST

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