Priyanka Gandhi backs LSR students’ protest, says women cannot be expected to live in fear

Congress general secretary and Lok Sabha MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has thrown her weight behind women students of Delhi University’s Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR) who have been protesting over safety concerns, saying women must not be asked to accept fear and injustice as a part of everyday life.

Backing the students’ demand to be heard and protected, Priyanka said the protests were not merely about one college or one incident but represented a larger fight for the safety and dignity of women.

She said she was proud of the LSR students and women in other colleges who had spoken out against violence against women and questioned why women should be forced to live in fear, tolerate injustice or bear the consequences while those responsible escaped accountability.

Priyanka urged women to stand together and make their voices count, stressing that the issue concerned every woman and could not be reduced to a campus-specific grievance.

Her remarks come amid a series of protests by students of LSR and other Delhi University colleges following the alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at Aastha Kunj Park near Kalkaji earlier this month. The incident triggered concerns over security around educational institutions, particularly after an accused was apprehended following a police encounter close to LSR’s back gate.

The LSR students have raised questions not only about the alleged assault but also about the conditions in which women are expected to move around the Capital. Their complaints have included poor lighting, inadequate police patrolling, non-functional CCTV cameras and concerns over inactive Pink Police Booths in areas around the college.

The protests have since spread beyond LSR, with students from colleges including Gargi College, Miranda House and Kamala Nehru College joining marches demanding safer public spaces and greater accountability from the authorities. At one such protest, students argued that restrictions on women’s movement could not be a substitute for making streets and public spaces safe.

The immediate fallout from the incident had also forced LSR to suspend physical classes temporarily and shift to online teaching, underscoring the anxiety among students living in paying guest accommodation and travelling through the neighbourhood.

For the protesting students, however, the issue goes beyond security arrangements at the college gate. They have questioned a response to crimes against women that often places restrictions on women instead of fixing unsafe public spaces and ensuring accountability for perpetrators.