New Delhi: Days after Delhi's prestigious St Stephen's College suspended a student-run magazine, another college has served notice to four students for a sanitary pad campaign on campus.
The Jamia Milia Islamia university has asked the students, including two girls, to explain why they put up sanitary pads across the campus with messages on them.
"We have received various complaints from students and teachers about the campaign. We have nothing against the message being conveyed by these students, but the method used is not appropriate," said a university spokesperson, Mukesh Ranjan.
The students were inspired by German activist, Elona, who has used sanitary pads to convey messages against sexism in a campaign launched on International Women's Day on March 8, which has become popular on social media with the hashtag #padsagainstsexism.
The Delhi students used the campaign for messages against rape and other crimes against women in India - "Rapists rape people, not outfits"; "My name is not baby" and "Menstruation is natural, rape is not," to sample a few.
The university has justified its action against the students, saying they did not follow norms and did not take permission for their campaign.
"We as a university advocate women's empowerment, but every institution has its norms and protocols. For any activity on campus, students are required to seek permission from the authorities, which they ignored, " said a teacher.
Earlier this week, the Principal of St Stephen's College, Valson Thampu, suspended a student-run e-magazine for not seeking his clearance on content. He also ordered an inquiry into what the college calls breach of discipline.
The weekly ezine started by a group of Stephanians, had gone live on March 7. It registered over 2,000 hits on an interview of the Principal, who said however, that the magazine published the article without clearing it with him.
The action by two colleges comes on a week the Supreme Court struck down Section 66 A, a controversial law that allowed arrests for offensive online content.