Two weeks after OP Jindal University issued a warning to Professor Sameena Dalwai for discriminating against Hindu students, the Haryana State Commission for Women (HSCW) has reportedly called for an FIR against the professor in the dating-app case. Notably, Dalwai did not appear before the commission on 6th December.
The HSCW said the “safety, security and dignity of the female students cannot be compromised with merely because she has chosen not to appear before the commission”.
In September, Dalwai allegedly violated the privacy of a student in the classroom by opening their Bumble dating-app account. Dalwai displayed the student’s private account on a Smart TV in a classroom full of students.
A video and screenshots of some chats doing rounds on X, formerly Twitter, showed the professor indulging in a detailed discussion about a dating account, which was allegedly a student’s.
Moreover, as per reports, when the students refused to open their profiles, Dalwai allegedly told them to create fake IDs and suggested using Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s picture.
The professor has been accused of breaching students’ privacy and the HSCW has ordered the professor to appear before it on 6th December. However, Dalwai skipped the hearing and sent her lawyer instead.
HSCW Chair Renu Bhatia rejected the application moved by Dalwai’s lawyer seeking that the professor be allowed to appear through video conference. This is the second time that Dalwai has skipped the hearing.
Dalwai reportedly wrote an email to the commission on 6th December saying that she assumed that the case has been closed as the university issued an action-taken report.
She reportedly said that her request for video-conference meant “she was ready to appear before the commission in good faith”.
The HSCW chairperson had taken cognisance of the incident and visited the university on 7th November and recorded the interviews of 180 students.
The commission also wrote a letter to the Sonepat Commission of Police on 6th December saying that creating a fake account in the name of a known political personality such as Rahul Gandhi amounted to “cheating, dishonesty and impersonation”.
The HSCW wrote, “We have solid evidence, including video recordings of students testifying before the commission, to support our claims. The students have bravely come forward to share their experiences and expose this egregious act of misconduct by the professor.”
On 13th November, the Vice-Chancellor of OP Jindal University, Professor C Raj Kumar issued a show-cause notice to Dalwai. “You (Sameena Dalwai) have failed in exercising due diligence and acted irresponsibly and thereby failed the university in its promise to create a safe space for its students,” the notice read.
“We have noted that you have realised this mistake. We extend a letter of warning to you so that it shall not be repeated in future and that there will be no further condonation on our part to such acts,” Kumar added.
In November, a talk was organised by the university titled ‘The History and Politics of the Palestinian Present’ by Professor Achin Vanaik, Retired Professor of International Relations and former Head of Department of Political Science at the University of Delhi, now an activist.
Naik made several anti-semitic, anti-Hindu statements and also attacked the Modi government. A shocking email also emerged which was written by Dalwai where she objected to those who opposed the lecture.
Dr. Sameena Dalwai also claimed that Hamas didn’t do any atrocities on Israeli civilians, and it was all ‘fake news by Indian troll armies’. She wrote, “India’s response has been sad. Fake news of Hamas atrocity is created by Indian troll armies. We know their power- many of us get trolled regularly for our writing.”
