Bravery award for Richa Singh

Allahabad student leader Richa Singh, whose ordeal was raised in Parliament on Tuesday, received support both from the ruling Samajwadi Party government and the Opposition Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh.

In a last minute decision, the Akhilesh Yadav government included Ms. Singh’s name in the list of women to be conferred the Rani Laxmi Bai bravery award on International Women’s Day. Her name was not in the original list and she was surprised to receive a call from the government on the eve of the ceremony.

The award was presented to her by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow on Tuesday. “He has assured me his full support. I also received assurances from the SP. In this fight against saffronisation of educational institutions and harassment of a woman student leader, we are reaching out to all parties,” Ms. Singh told The Hindu .

BSP chief Mayawati also extended support to the student leader, who has complained of harassment at the hands of the Allahabad University administration and the ABVP. She said the SP government and the university had not learnt any “lesson” from the death of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula.

The BSP chief said the first woman president of the Allahabad University Students’ Union since Independence must be provided with adequate security by the State government. She called Ms. Singh a victim of oppression. “Her only crime was that she opposed the entry of Yogi Adityanath, who is known for vitiating the atmosphere with his communal speeches, into the campus.

Ms. Singh has also been in the limelight for taking on the ABVP and raising issues of gender insensitivity. She now faces the prospect of having her admission cancelled and a case against her election is pending in the Allahabad High Court. Ms. Singh has said the administration was targeting her to “settle scores.”

Source:- The Hindu, 09-Feb-2016