Kerala: Medicos caught in gender war

Thiruvananthapuram: Students of Thiruvananthapuram Medical College who protested on Facebook against gender segregation were allegedly getting targeted. The allegation was that some teachers threatened five first-year MBBS students who liked the Facebook post of PG student questioning some teachers forbidding boys and girls sitting side by side in classrooms while most of the other medical colleges in the state did not have such a practice. The issues started after the college union organised a gender sensitisation class by Anishia Jayadev, a faculty member of the Institute of Management in Government. 

Ms Jayadev argued at the class that if gender sensitivity was to be achieved, boys and girls should sit mixed in the class. Then only they would become inclusive and open. Finally, it should lead to transgender also getting access to such institutes. Following the class, some students decided to sit mixed. The authorities argued that if different genders mixed, it would destroy discipline and lead to 'untoward incidents'. Earlier girl students here had challenged the decision to place CCTV cameras in the hostel. 

Following this, a postgraduate student pursuing forensic science came up with a series of posts about the misogynist attitude. The student also opposed the segregation. A section of teachers took the print out of them and harassed first-year MBBS students who liked the post, forcing most of them to withdraw. Some even unfriended the PG students. However, five first-year students decided to retain their likes. It was at this juncture that the college authorities decided to convene a meeting of parents, at which they circulated printouts posts with the names of girls who liked it. Many parents even argued for their ouster.  Mother of one of them cried after the meeting, sources said.