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Vice-Chancellor Prof (Dr) V Nagaraj of the Tamil Nadu National Law University (TNNLU), Tiruchirappalli, has apologised to the student community following a massive overnight protest against remarks he made regarding women’s attire. In a statement issued on Sunday, April 19, the VC said, “If my statements have hurt the sentiments of any members of the student community, faculty members or administrative staff of TNNLU, I have no hesitation to apologise for the same.”
The VC defended his statement, saying it had been made in the context of women’s safety and anonymous complaints, which he had received concerning sexual harassment of students.
He said that after the meeting with class representatives on April 15, in an informal discussion, he asked the students what could be done to improve the institution's image and to make it a top-tier National Law University. At this time, he spoke about the dress code, though he was “categorical” that no dress code could be imposed.
“In this context, I was recollecting my experience as a faculty at NLSIU, Bangalore in 2016 about the dress code issue. In the course of the meeting, I said that certain forms of dress may distract the labourers working in the campus (ladies hostel annex construction is going on), visitors, vendors, etc., who are visiting the campus. The social and cultural diversity of these visitors, vendors and stakeholders is wide and are at different levels. Also, since this university is situated in a village panchayat, it is better to exercise your wisdom during dressing and behaviour in general so that unnecessary attention or remarks are not invited from outsiders (sic),” he said.
He defended his statements, saying that the internal committee had received anonymous complaints about sexual harassment. “One of the anonymous emails regarding the sexual harassment indicated the bitter feelings/harassment experienced by (anonymous) students due to their way of dressing, which probably does not synchronise with all forms of diversity, and therefore it became necessary for me to mention the word “alleged sexual harassment.”
Students, however, said that he did not address his remarks about clothing being a “distraction” to faculty. “The statement is vague and attaches a stereotype to a particular set of people. It appears to be an attempt to quell our protests and put the issue to rest before the upcoming convocation. So far, the administration was bluffing everyone, and it was portrayed as a misrepresentation by a class representative, but he has now accepted it,” the Times of India quoted a student.
More than 250 students staged an overnight protest at the university on April 16 after the VC’s remarks to the students.
This article was written by a student interning with TNM.