Armed with placards, Tata Parsi girls resort to Gandhigiri against molesters

Nagpur: To deal with the menace of molestation by both footpath vendors and anti-socials gathered there, students of Tata Parsi Girls High School decided to resort to Gandhigiri as their last option.
Accompanied by faculty and members of a social organization named Center for Education of Human Rights Research and Advocacy (CEHRRA), the girls, on Saturday morning, were ‘armed’ with roses and placards to deter encroachers who set up a chor bazaar (flea market) on the pavement and the mischief makers who gather there.
However, with considerable police presence and advance notice of the planned event, all the street vendors decided to abstain from setting up shop on Saturday.
Shanoor Mirza, principal of Tata Parsi Girls High School, said, “The vendors opposite the school pose a security problem for our girls. Lewd comments are passed. Many times, people standing there stare at these kids which is an horrible ordeal. When the school’s managing trustee Thrity Patel was informed about this predicament, she decided to deal with it head on.”
Through CEHRRA, of which she is also the president, Patel planned a Gandhi-style awareness campaign to apprise all stakeholders of the ordeal the young school girls were facing.
Patel said, “Gandhigiri was the only thing we could do as all other options had been exhausted. We had complained to the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and they took action against vendors but within a few days it was all back to square one. Same thing with the cops. Though the police always responds to us, the moment they go, the nuisance makers are back.”
She added that there have been instances where the anti-social elements have moved beyond molestation. “We have been informed about cases where these girls have been inappropriately touched. This is sickening and we are praying that authorities now take some strong action,” said Patel.
Around a hundred students, along with secretary of CEHRRA, Reuben Ray, held placards with “Don’t Stare at us”, “Beti Bacchao Beti Padaao” etc written on them. The school management has also gave a memorandum to the state home minister Anil Deshmukh highlighting the problems faced by the girls. TOI tried reaching out to city police commissioner BK Upadhyay for a statement, but he did not respond to calls.