The elections for the post of students’ representatives to the Gender Sensitisation Committee against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) in Jawaharlal Nehru University were held on 10 April 2015. In an election that saw nearly 3,015 students casting their votes, Geeta Kumari, AISA activist, finished first with 1,148 votes. Aishwarya Adhikari of the Democratic Students’ Front finished second with 927 votes. The election saw an active misogynist campaign by two candidates backed by the ABVP who in their pamphlets described rape as the ‘violation of chastity’ of women, argued that ‘sangharsh’ (struggles) in feminism be replaced by ‘samanvay’ (coordination) and appealed to the voters to vote for a ‘Communist mukt GSCASH’. The ABVP candidates finished 4th and 6th respectively in a contest between 7 candidates reflecting a clear rejection of the patriarchal understanding and approach to Sexual Harassment and the resolve among JNU students to keep the GSCASH ‘mukt’ (free) of communal elements! The ‘GSCASH for All’ slogan raised by Com. Geeta that sought to expand the working of GSCASH beyond the binaries of male and female and also reach out to the campus workers, found a widespread support among the students.
