The Verdict | Fight for women’s safety, but don’t let violence bury the cause
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "The Verdict | Fight for women’s safety, but don’t let violence bury the cause")
Students protesting outside LPU clashed with police on Sunday. Photograph: (ANI)
Protest is a right. Destruction is not. Breaking windows, damaging classrooms, attacking vehicles, or vandalising a campus does not make the truth come out faster. It does not protect women, and it certainly does not punish any offender.
Let’s be absolutely clear about one thing: women’s safety is not negotiable. Whether it is a university campus in Punjab, a workplace in Delhi, a street in London, or a home anywhere in the world – every woman has the right to feel safe, and every allegation of sexual violence deserves to be taken seriously, investigated properly, and acted upon through due process.
The alleged LPU case has raised serious questions about campus security and how institutions respond when students believe their concerns are not being heard. An FIR has now been registered against unknown persons, and a special investigation team has been constituted to investigate the allegation.
The university has denied the circulating claims and calls them rumours. This is precisely why a transparent, credible investigation is needed. But there is another line that must be drawn just as firmly.
Protest is a right. Destruction is not. Breaking windows, damaging classrooms, attacking vehicles, or vandalising a campus does not make the truth come out faster. It does not protect women, and it certainly does not punish any offender.
In fact, when a protest turns violent, the original issue can get buried under the violence.
Be loud and relentless. But do not become destructive.
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The larger cause must not be forgotten. Across the world, the conversation on women's safety has to move beyond outrage after an incident.
Fight for women’s safety, demand accountability and protest if you must. but don't destroy the very place where justice is supposed to be delivered.
And one more thing: in an age of social media, unverified claims can become combustible within minutes. Before we forward, accuse, or mobilise, we have a responsibility to establish what is actually known.
So be careful. Raise your voice, but also keep fact-checking so that the larger cause is not lost.
