The Bengali term “Hokkolorob” literally means “Let there be noise or cacophony”. Originally, it was the title of a song sung by Bangladeshi singer Arnob. Later, it began to be used as a hashtag on Facebook in support of the movement by Jadavpur University which began on 3rd September, 2014. Rupam Islam, the noted Bengali singer then composed the national song for the movement titled ‘Hokkolorob’.
The laxity on the part of the university authorities in the investigation of an alleged case of molestation in the campus triggered off the protest by the students. On 28th August, a second year female student was dragged into the Old Boys’ Hostel and molested while the male friend accompanying her was badly beaten up by them. Although an Internal Complaints Committee was formed in accordance with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013 upon a complaint lodged by the girl’s father; situations worsened when members of the committee whom the girl later identified as her own university’s professors visited her home on account of investigating the details of her dress on the night of the incident. Following this, she had to file a general complaint of ‘mental harassment’ in the Bidhannagar Police Station on 6th of September.
The demand of the students protesting in support of the girl’s cause was an unbiased, transparent, fast investigation of the allegation with appropriate legal committee according to Visakha guidelines. Sadly, no heed was paid to their cause. Finally when no point of mediation could be reached even after arranging several meetings with the university officials, the students decided to gherao some officials including the vice-chancellor, Abhijit Chakrabarti. Next what followed was a ruckus of events when the VC summoned the police in the wee hours of 17th September to control the situation. The police assault on students by not only policemen but also baton cadres and Trinamool Congress cadres, and also the mishandling of women students were deeply criticised nationwide. 36 students were hospitalized while 40 of them were arrested.
This incident intensified the protest. Now the demand of the protest additionally included the resignation of the VC. On September 20th , a rally of around 1 lakh people was organised in the heart of Kolkata. At the end of the peaceful protest march, a delegation of students met the governor of West Bengal, Keshari Nath Tripathi. People from all walks of life and other colleges and universities in the city had poured into the rally in support of the cause including noted singers, actors and writers. Overall, the protest had a strong cultural flavour. Songs, dance sequences and other diverse cultural manifestations were arranged. A large oeuvre of posters, graffiti, poems, songs, slogans and street plays were organised and performed. Protest demonstrations were simultaneously held in other parts of the country like JNU, Banga Bhavan and Jantar Mantar in Delhi; IIT Chennai, Mumbai and Kharagpur; Pondicherry University, Bangalore University and HCU. Alumni of Jadavpur University students also organised protest demonstrations in New York, Sydney and London in
solidarity with the police brutality on unarmed students taking part in a non-violent sit in demonstration.
Hokkolorob became one of the first movements in India to significantly employ social media and internet activism for coordination and dissemination. Avishek De Biswas, a theatre actor and an ex-student of JU can be dubbed as the accidental author of the hashtag. The first method of their protest included demonstrations of various types like marches in which a parade demonstrates while moving along a set route, rallies in which people gather to listen to
speakers and sit-ins in which demonstrators occupy an area for a definite or indefinite period until they feel their issue has been addressed or are otherwise convinced or forced to leave. The next method of internet activism is the use of electronic communication technologies like social media for various forms of activism to enable faster communication by citizen movements and the delivery of local information to a large audience. Hashtag activism is a form of internet activism that uses hashtags for activist purposes.
The whole issue transformed into a political one because of the remarks and comments made by the Chief Minister of the State Mamata Banerjee and the then Education Minister Partha Chatterjee (now in Jail) which attempted at threatening the students taking part in the movement and also trivialising the whole issue. On 22nd September, a rally was organised by the ruling Trinamool Congress Party against the students of JU. The CM’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee claimed that the students of JU and Presidency were in reality protesting against the ban of liquor and other illegal substances in their university campus. (Me being an alumni of Presidency and factfully deny this!) In spite of such derogatory remarks, their protest was a failure as it was clearly proved by the media that students from schools and colleges from rural and suburban areas were literally dragged into the protest even though they did not support the cause to show the supremacy of the ruling party. One shocking revelation of this march was that the father of the molested girl in whose support the whole university had come together was seen in the rally against the students. Partha Chatterjee was captured by the media just the previous day entering the girl’s house. This reflects the immense political pressure mounted upon the victim by the state. Considering circumstances like this, we can hardly claim to live in a gender sensitised democracy.
Following this shameful protest, a couple of events followed. While on one hand, the pro VC of JU resigned stating that his decision was not taken into consideration when the police was called upon on the pretext that the VC felt his life was being threatened by the unarmed protests by the students, but on the other hand Abhijit Chakbarti was appointed by the governor of WB as the VC of JU for a period of 4 years. On 16th October, a fire torch rally was held in the evening to mark one month of that brutal incident. Almost 700 students undertook a 24 hours hunger strike. The campus was burning with slogans, graffiti, posters, black badges and destroyed effigies of the VC demanding his resignation. Although the classes resumed eventually, the students refused to record attendance and open air classes were held by the professors as a mark of protest. On 24th December, students decided to ban the convocation ceremony and refused to accept their medals and certificates in the presence of the VC. He was greeted with black flags and posters and ultimately had to leave the
ceremony in the middle of it. Students refused to surrender to the repression of the state politics and started a fast unto death on 5th January, 2015. On 12th January, the parents of the students of JU announced a token fast of 24 hours in support of their children and the cause. Even after several meetings when the hunger strike could not be called off, the chief minister herself came into the campus and announced the resignation the VC. Thus 12th January, 2015
marked the success of the struggles and tribulations faced by the students for the past 4 months.
In the case of Hokkolorob movement, sexual harassment of the female student was not a personal cause of the students but they could all relate to it considering the recent scenario of women’s safety in our state and country. This cause gave them a sense of collective identity which was an integral part of the movement. Next came the issue of students’ security and safety in the campuses of state universities, especially in West Bengal. Preceding the Jadavpur University incident, similar incidents of molestations, rape threats and vandalism by TMCP goons have occurred in reputed universities like Visva Bharati,
Presidency and Calcutta University. Thus this issue immediately got the support of students from colleges across the state. The incident became a political one when the topic of body shaming came into highlight by the university officials who were just imitating the behaviour of the state officials in the Park Street rape case incident when the chief minister of the state trivialised the whole incident of rape into a miniscule event. Such remarks by the investigating committee members gained the support of the whole nation, men and women alike against the patriarchal state. The next incident of mishandling and vandalising the students participating in a peaceful protest again due to state repression sparked off a nationwide debate and this time on a much larger scale. Bystander audiences like media played an important role in support of the students’ movement. Also, since most of the students’ unions had either an affiliation to some greater political party not in power or were independent unions, they got the support of all the opposition parties both at the state and
national levels. This gave them more authority and power to take the movement further. The fact that all the students in the country and also the alumni of JU outside the country were using more or less same methods for protesting (mostly peaceful) represent the student culture of our society which is an important aspect in the formation of collective identity.
Collective identity is an individual’s cognitive, moral and emotional connection with a broader community, category, practice or institution. It is a perception of shared status or relation, which may be imagined rather than experienced directly, and it is distinct from personal identities, although it may form part of a personal identity. It’s essence resides in a shared sense of oneness or we-ness in which is embedded a corresponding sense of collective agency. Collective identity can also be seen as an interactive and shared definition produced by several interacting individuals who are concerned with the orientations of their action as well as the field of opportunities and constraints in which their action takes place. The definitions formulated by them are in part the result of negotiated interactions and relationships of influence and in part the fruit of emotional recognition. It is a group attribute, multidimensional, fluid and relational. It not only includes collective interactions but also interactions with allies, opponents and bystanders such as media. It involves boundary work which is defined as creating reciprocal identification between group members that simultaneously express commonalities and difference with reference groups. Collective identity formation is developed through shared leadership, organisation, ideologies and rituals. It uses symbolic resources as signifiers and is also influenced by the context, politics and organisational structure. According to this theory the movement has specific focus on issues like recruitment, strategic decision making and outcomes. According to New Social Movement theorists, participants in post-industrial social movements pay more heed to individuality than to their respective social class or ethnic group. Mobilizing identities such as network analysis identities come from common positions in networks like urban residence in this case. Institutional contexts also play an important role in providing solitary incentives and free space to develop counter hegemonic ideas and oppositional identities. Culture also plays an important role in shaping collective identities.
From a folk standpoint, political opportunity entails the freedom for individuals and collectivities to express their grievances and pursue their interests publicly through various communication channels and through assemblage in various public and quasi-public places like streets, universities, colleges etc. Moreover, we have a relatively open and democratic governmental structure. To say precisely, the West Bengal state government exhibits a mix of both open and closed characteristics. Protests typically occur more in cities exhibiting this type of political opportunity structure. Sometimes the repressive capacity of the authorities
plays an important role in determining the movement. But not only do repressive actions by the social control agents sometimes fail to stifle movement protest, in some cases it appears even to stimulate it. In the hokkolorob movement, the protest intensified and spread across the country after the police brutality of the state inflicted upon the students. Opportunities might be also defined by protestors in terms of the perceived strength of the oppositional allies. In this case not only did the students gain the support of the oppositional communist party of the state but also of the whole political sphere, media and various professors’ unions who stood in unity as opposed to the ruling party of the state.
Liberal feminism which considers men and women to be the same can be used to explain the incident of molestation that triggered off the protests. The origin of gender differences lies in socialization and inequality stems from denial of equal rights. The primary obstacle to equality is sexism – in this case, the societal belief that women are physically inferior as compared to men. This theoretical perspective stresses that increased focus should be given on social change efforts through legislation. The incident can also be explained through the notions of Marxist and Socialist feminism that considers men and women to be different. Origins of women’s oppression is the result of their work and status in the family and economy. Women’s inferior position is the result of class based capitalism. The strand of radical feminism perhaps gives the best explanation of the cause of the movement. Patriarchy is a system that privileges men and exploits women. Male control of women’s sexuality is a key factor in women’s oppression as can be seen in the case when the girl was interrogated about her dress on the eve of molestation by the investigators. Violence against women should be recognised as a means of direct and indirect control through fear and sexual harassment must be identified as a continuum of violence against women. The goal of radical feminism was the abolishment of male supremacy. The fact that the girl spoke up about the whole incident can be explained with the help of Post modern feminism. Feminist Standpoint Theory suggests that the location of the knower shapes what is known and stresses the importance of human agency as against victimization only.
The recent incident at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital felt like a deja vu for me. Are educational spaces really safe? These so-called esteemed institutions are regarded some of the best in the country. The predators and the victims ironically are found to be students/alumni of the same institutions. Illiteracy in India is a much bigger issue to be tackled, perhaps later. But for now, we really need to reflect on what kind of education are we imparting in these “best” institutions that are producing so many monsters! Maybe the outrage is slightly more this time and the parents couldn’t be “bought” under any political pressure because their only daughter is dead. Is this what the value of human lives have been reduced to in the most populated nation of the world? A dead body can have slightly more hope for justice than a survivor?! Shame on every political party of India i.e. Bharat – definitely not the Bharat for which our forefathers fought with their lives to give us freedom from the bloody colonial rule.