NUST dress code: Grooming by taking away personal choices

NUST says it will not make names of students fined for violation public.

ISLAMABAD:

The latest enforcement of a dress code which resulted in girls getting fined for not dressing up ‘modestly’ stirred a storm at one of the top-ranking institutes of the country.

News of girls being fined at the National University of Sciences and Technology (Nust) for not wearing dupattas sparked a controversy and debate between liberal and conservative elements on social and print media. The rector for his part justified the move as a ‘security measure’.

The university, stretched over the whole H-12 sector in the capital, has an infrastructure developed to international standards and like any other security concerned varsity, entering cars are thoroughly checked at the main gate beyond which, tall brick buildings and broad roads with speed signs gives it all the necessary looks of a modern campus but students — recently speaking of the conservative rules and old fashioned trends the institute is trying to instil in them— unveils what is going on at the heart of the institute.



Admissions on merit — evident by the fact that only 2000 applicants were enrolled out of the total 64,000 this year— means the institute produces top quality graduates in the country, but the recent issues raised by students studying there puts a question mark on the varsity’s grooming of students beyond books and lectures.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, a student of engineering requesting anonymity said her dream of studying there has turned into a nightmare, from which she will only awake after graduation — a moment she impatiently awaits. Regarding the ongoing controversy over social media, the student with an A’ levels background said whatever her peers are saying is true “Let’s face it; there is no smoke without fire. The conservative environment has led to a drastic change in the way I dress and I to it only to be accepted at the college,” she said while adding that she never wears a dupatta otherwise which is mandatory at Nust.



Male and female students are asked to maintain a safe distance at the campus and out of the three cafeterias, one is out of bounds for girls after 5:00pm. The hostels are also shut down at 7:30pm instead of the routine 9:00pm and students have to spend the night outside if they fail to reach the hostel by that time.

According to another student, judging the character of a girl by her dress is unfair.  “At Nust, forget that you will live a liberal life. For the management here, if I wear jeans I’m a bad girl and if I’m in shalwar kameez I’m considered good.”  The administration’s mindset represents that of our society at large she said, adding that her family makes fun of her by asking her to wear a burqa at college to score better.

As the slips of students fined for wearing jeans went viral on social media the jokes about the university started a deep-rooted debate about the military-administered university.

While the conservatives praised the varsity, terming it one of its kind by highlighting its academic side, others spoke about the suffocation felt by students who deal with the stress on a daily basis.

A students meeting was called in by the university’s rector, Engineer Muhammad Asghar on Thursday evening as the issue gained momentum.

Speaking to the gathering of 500 girls, including students charged for wearing inappropriate clothing, Asghar reassured his support for the students and said he wanted to interact with the students to clear misunderstandings. He informed the meeting that the harsh steps were taken to ensure the security of the students and mentioned the presence of terrorists at the universities of Punjab and Sindh hostels adding that a malicious campaign to tarnish the university’s image is going on.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Dr Ashfaq Hasan Khan of the Nust Business School said that the dress code was only applicable to the business school and has been there since its inception in 1999, adding that it is mentioned during orientation as well as printed in the prospectus of the university.

He said boys have to wear ties and dress pants, while girls have to wear shalwar kameez while we train them for a future in the corporate sector, where they have to look a certain way. “They cannot go in the field with their beards and jeans,” he said.

Whether jeans pose a threat to security or whether the varsity has an alumnus making it bigger in the industry than Steve Jobs — who happened to have a beard, are some of the questions poking fun at   the university’s decision that takes away personal choices from the students on Twitter.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 27^th, 2013.