Only a month after directing male and female students to maintain a ‘six-inch distance’ between them, the administration of Bahria University in Islamabad has barred female students from using all food outlets except ‘Dean’s Cafeteria’ at the campus.
The order, issued and duly signed by deputy director (Admin & Coordination) Commander (retd) Habibur Rehman on Monday, has directed all female students to avail Dean’s Cafeteria in Quaid Block whereas all other food outlets in the premises will remain forbidden for them.
Consequently, all male students are directed to avail Capital Café, Student Café and Daily Grind whereas the Dean’s Café (designated for girls) will be out of bound for them with immediate effect.
Disciplinary action will be taken against those who don’t follow this rule, according to the notification.
A member of the staff requesting anonymity told media persons, “When the varsity is same for boys and girls, classes are same and even laboratories are same, why not cafeterias?”
“By segregating males from females at university means that we failed to prepare our students to be responsible members of our society,” he said. According to him, Bahria University is always in news for wrong reasons.
He added that those continuously coming up with such ideas need to think before issuing such bizarre notifications.
The university came under fire for a notification directing male and female students to “maintain a distance of at least 06 inches while sitting or standing together” last month. The students were strictly forbidden from ‘touching’ each other. Moreover, the private varsity has also been criticised in past for its strict dress code in which women are forbidden to wear sleeveless shalwar qameez and tights. Dupatta and scarf have been mentioned as compulsory items with all dresses on the university’s website.
