The American society is pushed to the back foot in debates concerning liberty, equality and opportunity when an opponent points out that the society has failed to send even a single woman to the White House in the history of the country’s democracy. The irony becomes more pronounced when one contrasts this with the fact that four South Asian countries have had women heads of state. Some people even argue that one of the factors that contributed to Obama’s election as President was the spirit of affirmative action among the American populace which wanted to elect a person of a historically excluded race as their leader and send a message to the world.
It is a fact universally acknowledged that the women of the world have been oppressed for centuries and have been denied opportunities; the situation is only worse in India. At a time when women empowerment is a pressing concern all over the world, the AMU community is faced with the monumental task of nominating people for the post of vice-chancellor.
AMU’s reputation as an egalitarian institution has been dampened lately because of the controversy surrounding the entry of students of Women’s College in the central library. The incident makes corrective action incumbent upon us. It is the collective moral responsibility of the AMU community to do something to offset the image loss.
Furthermore, the representation of women is extremely poor in the governing bodies of the University. There is only one woman in AMU’s 26 member strong Executive Council and she is a member only in her capacity as the Principal of Women’s College. There are only 5 women in AMU Court which has over 150 members. The AMU’s Academic Council which has roughly as many members has 15 women as members. Almost all the women in these bodies are ex-officio members or members by virtue of their posts; none of them are nominated or elected members.
These figures should be disturbing for any institution and a matter for contemplation. Affirmative action or conscious effort to improve opportunities for the excluded community is definitely one of the ways to achieve parity across sections of the society. Muslims in India are already an excluded community as has been empirically established by the Sachar Committee report. Muslim women are doubly excluded as they face exclusion not only owing to their Muslim identity but also due to their gender.
Emancipating these women and working towards their upliftment is an obligation upon the AMU community. A greater representation of women in the university’s governing bodies might not be the greatest of ways to achieve gender equality, but it is certainly the bare minimum that we can and we must do. If the AMU community is unable to do even this, then it shall lose the moral authority to claim any affirmative action from the government for the Muslims of the country.
When one talks about the under-representation of women in the University, one must not forget at the same time that the first Chancellor of AMU was Begum Sultan Jahan. To add to this, the university was served by a woman proctor, Dr. Shad Bano in the mid 90s, at a time when student unrest in the university was at its peak. There were a lot many who questioned her abilities but were silenced when they witnessed her efficient handling of the law and order crisis that erupted soon after she took charge in 1996. The situation was so grave that the Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar had to be evacuated from the campus and the university had to be shut down. It was Dr. Bano who led and handled the administration during those days of crisis.
In addition, the university must make known to the world that it has had an early tradition of feminist discourse in the University. To discuss the exclusion of women a seminar was organized in Women’s College in 1976. As per a report by India Today, the then vice-chancellor Prof. A. M. Khusro, in his inaugural address ‘drew attention to the amazing contradiction that while on the one hand motherhood, sisterhood and life-partnership have been universally respected and eulogized, on the other, women have been kept in servility.’
Keeping all the aforesaid points in mind, the AMU community must certainly consider having a woman vice-chancellor. Sometimes, one must look at things from a macroscopic level. If the efforts and deliberations within the AMU community result in the appointment of a woman vice-chancellor, it will be sending across a very strong message to the society. And there’s absolutely no dearth of brilliant women who are excelling in their disciplines.
Year after year we read news reports of girls scoring better than boys in some exam or the other. Sooner or later, women’s representation in institutions will be equal to that of men. Years later, what people will remember is who took the lead in ensuring justice for women. And that will be the time when they’ll recognize the foresight and contribution of the progressive AMU community in the women’s struggle for equal opportunities.
(The author is an AMU Alumnus)