Safety Or Control? The Policing Of Women’s Clothing In Indian Educational Institutes And Its False Grounds
Sumit Baudh | 23 April 2026 | Feminism in India
On 15 April 2026, at a Class Representatives’ meeting in Tamil Nadu National Law University, Prof V Nagaraj, the Vice-Chancellor reportedly stated that women students wearing shorts “invite sexual harassment” and “distract” both faculty and fellow students. The language is familiar, almost rehearsed. It echoes remarks attributed to him a decade earlier at the National Law School in Bengaluru—remarks that, at the time, triggered student protests and an eventual apology. What is striking now is not merely the repetition but the insistence: the position is not retracted but reaffirmed, even taken pride in. This is not a lapse in judgment. It is the persistence of a way of knowing…