Students enrolled at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) staged protests on Friday over women’s safety, campus security and restrictions imposed on female students, demanding a change in the existing 10 pm curfew in girls’ hostels.
Students attached to various organisations such as the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), AISA, Disha and BSM took part in the protests. While the ABVP helmed a torchlight procession, the AISA, Disha and BSM conducted a joint demonstration.
Female students also took out a march, raising persisting concerns over campus safety rules, restrictions and accountability of the administration.
A still from the protests
Students demand changes in hostel rules
The protestors, during the agitations, questioned the existing curfew arrangements for women students and called for measures to ramp up safety across the sprawling university campus.
Alongside changes to hostel timings, students have voiced concerns about streetlights, roads, hotel-related problems and security arrangements. The stirs surface amid ongoing confrontation between sections of the student community and the university administration over campus security and disciplinary issues.
In the thick of the protests, the ABVP has demanded the resignation of BHU chief Proctor Prof Sandeep Pokhariya, alleging harassment of students, security lapses and shortcomings in the administration’s handling of disciplinary issues.
The organisation began an indefinite sit-in at the institute’s central office in September 2026 over the aforementioned issues.
Row erupts over Sept 12 auditorium programme
Another snap of the protests
The ABVP-led agitation has also raised questions over the allocation of a university auditorium for a programme held on September 12.
AISA national president Neha Bora had addressed a student event at BHU’s Onkar Nath Thakur auditorium on the said date as part of the outfit’s ‘Gen-Z Mahajutan Yatra.’ According to a report by news agency PTI, Bora spoke about student and youth issues during the event, while several other reports claimed that the programme was held amid heightened security arrangements.
ABVP has called for a probe into how the auditorium had been allotted and also questioned the decision to provide the venue without charge. It further objected to remarks allegedly made during the programme.