Aligarh Muslim University's students' union gets women on board for the first time

For the first time in the history of the varsity, women candidates were elected to the Aligarh Muslim Students’ Union (AMUSU) on Sunday. According to The Times of India report, Ghazala Ahmad, Labeeba Sherwani, and Sadaf Rasool, were elected to the 10-member cabinet, along with Naved Ahmad, Waseel K, Abdul Wasay, Irfan Ali, Asif Idrees, Mohd Naved Siddiqui, and Amanullah. [caption id=“attachment_3043744” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A file image of the Aligarh Muslim University. CNN-News 18[/caption] Faizul Hasan, a doctoral student in the department of sociology, was elected as the union president and Nadeem Ansari, an MSW (Master in social work) student, was elected as vice-president. Nabeel Usmani, a student in the Faculty of Management, was elected as secretary of the students’ union. AMU VC Lt General Zameeruddin Shah congratulated the student community for conducting the election campaign in a “peaceful democratic” manner while adhering to the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee. In 2014 , the university had received flak when its VC turned down a plea from the students of the Women’s College to access the Maulana Azad Library – with a seating capacity of 1,300 and has just 12 seats reserved for women – saying that by doing so, they would ‘attract’ more boys. However, the Allahabad High Court had then ruled the university authorities to allow entry of girl students inside the central library stating that the decision to restrict entry of girl students was “arbitrary” and “in violation of Article 14 and 16 of the Constitution”. The results were announced early on Sunday morning after the polling for the AMUSU was held on Saturday. Political parties or groups are not permitted to put up candidates for the elections under the AMU constitution. With inputs from agencies