December 21, 2025 01:02 am (IST)
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Allahabad HC orders AMU to allow UG girls in central library
Allahabad, Nov 14 (IBNS): The Allahabad High Court on Friday removed the restriction on undergraduate girls allowing them to use the central library of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
The High Court has also sought a reply from the varsity's Vice Chancellor Zameeruddin Shah who had recently stirred a controversy by not allowing girls inside the library since it will attract boys there.
The court has reportedly expressed shock over Shah's comments.
This comes after the court took up a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) regarding this matter on Thursday.
The PIL, filed by law intern and activist Deeksha Dwivedi, has alleged the AMU Vice-Chancellor was adopting a "discriminatory" attitude towards girl students by refusing their entry into the library.
Coming under fire, the varsity on Thursday informed the HRD Ministry that access to girls to the central library is under consideration.
Earlier, the HRD Ministry had also sought an explanation form the VC over such a restriction.
HRD Minister Smriti Irani had also that the rule amounted to "insult to daughters".
The prestigious AMU was sucked into a controversy recently over not allowing girls inside the library since it will attract boys there.
While the controversy continued, Vice Chancellor of AMU Lt General Zameeruddin Shah had been quoted by media channels saying "if girls are allowed in the library, four times more boys will flock to the library."
"This is not an issue of discipline but of space," he was quoted by a channel.
The university had said the issue is owing to space crunch and not because of it attitude towards girls.
AMU PRO Dr Rahat Abrar had said the decision is not a gender bias. "Thirty five per cent girls study in AMU, much more than any other college," he had told media.
AMU's Women's College principal Naima Gulrez was quoted saying in Times of India: "We understand the demand for access to the library. But have you girls ever seen the library? It is jam-packed with boys. If girls too were to be present in it, the discipline issue might crop up."
Reports said students of the Women's College are not allowed membership of the Maulana Azad Library.
Girl students said the issue of safety of women cannot be a cause of the varsity not allowing them in the library.
AMU was founded by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, one of the architects of modern India and one of the pioneers of modern education for Muslims.
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