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
