Moral policing upsets IIT-M hostellers

MADURAI: A cross-section of hostellers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras has locked horns with wardens and administrators over restrictions imposed on ‘Hostel Night’ celebrations.While upset students have dubbed the move “moral policing”, faculty members claim they are only imposing reasonable restrictions.The Hostel Night celebrations are an annual ritual towards the end of academic year when hostellers invite friends to their rooms for an unwinding session that usually lasts till dawn. This year, “the institute administration wants to restrict the celebration time inside rooms to 10.30 pm. Also, they have mandated that a girl student can invite only two boys to her room at the Sharavati and Sarayu Hostel blocks,” a girl complained.Recently, sparks flew at a meeting to convince hostellers to accept the restrictions. “One professor read too much into the celebrations and declared that as per Indian law, members of the opposite sex cannot stay in a room if they are not married. The professor said even the French President was not allowed to stay with his girlfriend on an official visit to India,” a student said. Another professor argued that since the IITs including its hostels were run on taxpayers’ money, rules couldn’t be breached. The senior professor also suggested that if students were given a free hand, then contraband would make its way into the hostels. “Even the Supreme Court has given its stamp of legitimacy to live-in relationships.  But our professors are saying it is illegal for a boy and girl to share a room. We are adults and know our responsibilities,” a girl said, asking “why should they decide on the number of boys who can enter our rooms?”