#MeToo: Voice to the Voiceless

By Mosis Wangsa

Lately, whenever digging into your social media accounts, you may have seen this strange hashtag ‘#MeToo’ popping out on every platform. Ever wondered what is it and why it is trending?

The #MeToo movement spread virally in October 2017 as a hashtag used on social media to expose the widespread prevalence of sexual harassment and exploitation, especially in the workplace. It followed soon after allegations of sexual misconduct exploded on social media against top Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

The phrase was previously used in this context by African-American civil rights activist Tarana Burke and was popularized by American actress and activist Alyssa Milano when she encouraged women to tweet it “to give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem”. Since then, the phrase has been posted online millions of times, often with an accompanying personal story of sexual victimisation. The response on Twitter included high-profile posts from several celebrities, and many stories of sexual violence were shared, including that of actor/singer Anthony Deane Rapp against legendary actor Kevin Spacey.

If we trace this evil carefully we can see it operating everywhere around us. Be it at the workplace, office, classroom or even within the four walls of our own home, it has unfortunately become a brutal reality. When asked about it, a young lady scholar from the Department of Political Science, GU, remarked, “I totally stand with the movement. I am glad that through social media, people are finally coming out. Sexual harassment or exploitation was always there, it is just now that more people are speaking about it and exposing it. It is not to be taken lightly. Be it in any form, it is an out and out crime”. Another lady scholar from the Department of Philosophy added, “I encourage every girl out there to come forward if they had ever experienced it. At the end of the day, there is always a helping hand”.

A male scholar from the Department of Law however pointed out: “Right now when the entire world is so taken up with feminist issues, which is great by the way, we often tend to forget the males. There are reports of men too being victimized by sexual predators.”

One significant fact that needs be noted is that with each passing day, the social media phenomenon is growing stronger. The #MeToo movement is a recent instance that shows social media surpassing even mainstream media, with the latter desperately trying to catch up. It may be a double-edged sword, but social media whenever used properly is already giving a voice to the hitherto voiceless.

Cycling for a green campus

In order to stay green and eco-friendly, Gauhati University is set to become a cycling campus soon.
"We have prepared a grand plan to maintain the eco-friendly environment of the campus. The blueprint has already reached our hands. The plan includes various development works to keep the campus environment green. It consists of several work plans ranging from managing biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes to building up a cycling campus", said Dr Mridul Hazarika, Vice Chancellor, GU.

Using bicycles will also act as an alternative means of transport, as the new regulations to come into effect soon at the completion of closed GU campus will restrict the movement of commercial vehicles inside the campus.

Hazarika added, "Building GU into a cycling campus will also be helpful for students as commercial vehicles will be restricted within the campus once it is closed off. We welcome the positive proposal of Post Graduate Students' Union for a cycling campus. We are making all efforts to bring this about in 2-3 months".

"We have procured a new cycle at our department for easy movement around the campus which sprawls over 600 acres. Our initiative is to help re-install the cycling culture amongst faculties and students of our department, in keeping with the varsity authority's move to convert GU into a cycling campus", said Dr Ankuran Dutta, Head, Department of Communication & Journalism, GU.
Notably, the Varsity Week held in March 8-15 at GU included cycling as a new event for the first time, aimed at promoting cycling culture among students in the campus.

Manash Pratim Duarah, President of Students' Union at GU said,  "We are happy that the closed campus of GU is near completion. Therefore, we have proposed to the authority to provide 5 cycles to each hostel initially for use within the campus, apart from promoting cycling culture through the inclusion of cycling as an event for the first time in this year's varsity week".
"We will also be organising a cycle rally within the campus shortly to further promo
the cycling culture at GU," he added.

By Raja Das

'Equip students to deal with stress'

Varsity life can be daunting for youths with crushing study workloads and gnawing career anxieties, particularly in a State like Assam saddled with chronic joblessness. Relationship problems can add further to their emotional woes, making it a particularly dicey phase.

"A psychological counseling centre is very much important at university level as students remain depressed over job prospects and relationship issues. There is a career and guidance cell at GU, but that alone cannot help students deal with stress. Nor have they involved anyone from Psychology department. Students are mostly lacking in awareness about mental health. This besides, stigma is attached to such problems and seeking of professional help," said Professor Indranee Phookan Barooah of Psychology Department, GU.

"We have proposed setting up a psychological counseling centre to hold family counseling programmes, on the basis of a government notification in 2016, but no response has been forthcoming from GU administration so far," she added.
A mental health awareness programme was organised by Ujjeevit Foundation, a Guwahati-based organisation for overall development of children and youth, in association with GU Study Circle at the varsity on April 1.

"Students labouring under mental stress can come to know scientifically about it by attending such programmes. Mental health awareness programme is helpful to identify depression among students through various symptoms in their behaviour, which can then be overcome through counseling," Professor Barooah said.

Rahul Dutta, founder of Ujjeevit Foundation, said, "This mental health awareness programme is part of our 6-months-long campaign 'Khul Ke Bolo' in which we have targeted to reach 1,000 youths of schools, colleges and universities in the city. Our objective is to lay a platform for them to speak about the stresses troubling them and learn from the success stories of those who fought and overcame their depression."

"There are many GU students who have waited long for this kind of awareness programme to be organised in the campus. This programme will be helpful to all, irrespective of gender in the campus, though some may use this platform to highlight current issues, like the lot of girl students," said Aparajita Mahanta, president of GU Study Circle.

By Raja Das