Chandigarh University MMS Scandal: Ugly Truth Behind It !

Chandigarh University MMS Scandal

KAKALI DAS

On one hand, it was Palghar, where Sadhus were victim of barbaric violence, and on the other hand, it is Chandigarh, where students are now protesting against the administration – two places far apart yet some similarity.

Remember in 2020, Palghar, where 2 Sadhus and their drivers were lynched, 300 people gathered outraged.

It is said, there was a clear religious angle – Sadhus were targeted and calls for justice campaigns were run by new channels. While, fact finding and further research revealed that there were allegations of child lifting.

In fact, in the last week too, four Sadhus were assaulted in Maharashtra on child lifting suspicion.

Cut to September 2022, in Chandigarh, girls are protesting in large numbers against the Chandigarh University.

The allegations are that 50-60 MMS of girls changing or bathing was leaked and made viral on social media, allegation is that 4-8 girls tried to commit suicide. Girls protesting won’t budge as police and administration try to explain. However, the university administration and police seems to be in a mode of denial.

What is the truth behind it? How is there any relation between Palghar and Chandigarh? Why are the girls refusing to acknowledge evidence?

The story started last Saturday when alleged confession of a girl who was making videos of other girls – not just one, or two, but fifty to sixty videos was doing the rounds. The allegation is that the videos of girls bathing were then circulated by the girl among her male friends. Protests erupted after the video went viral. Students were protesting continuously, demanding proof and action. The girls say that they won’t listen to the police, claim, truth being hidden by all agencies.

Claims and videos that at least 4 girls tried to commit suicide and 2 died of it were made online, and the story obtained nationwide coverage. Thousands of videos claiming that are circulating on social media.

Scroll through social media and you will find countless conspiracy theories being cooked up – that this was a wholly planned systematic process and videos were sold to black market, also to blackmail girls, which is why some tried to commit suicide. Any theory on social media, will attract attention is what we observed in the past two days.

And, it isn’t that the police were sleeping – police officers were present at the scene and among the students, but students were not ready to talk. Obviously, as the news spread like a wildfire, politics had to enter the picture. The leaders of NSUI had reached Chandigarh University already, and claimed that girls were locked in the hostel.

Also, Punjab Women Commission Chairperson Manisha Gulati came under fire on social media for a picture in which she was smiling during a press conference. Shots were fired on AAP leader Chief Minister of Punjab too, as he was allegedly drunk when trying to return from Germany to assess the situation, and flight was delayed as a result. However, AamAdmi Party is saying that they are all rumours. But, don’t underestimate a rumour. 

“The story started last Saturday when alleged confession of a girl who was making videos of other girls – not just one, or two, but fifty to sixty videos was doing the rounds. The allegation is that the videos of girls bathing were then circulated by the girl among her male friends. Protests erupted after the video went viral. Students were protesting continuously, demanding proof and action. The girls say that they won’t listen to the police, claim, truth being hidden by all agencies.”

What’s up with the investigation?

Police say that there is no such video of other girls as claimed; there are four videos which are solely of the girl, who sent them to her boyfriend – that is what the police investigation found. However, students are not ready to accept this result as they believe administration is trying to suppress truth. Although, the all women Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been set up to probe the case; phone of the accused girl was sent for forensic audit, as forensic examination will reveal if clips were there and deleted.

On being questioned if the students have seen the videos, they said that they haven’t seen any video in circulation. Also, administration and cyber security experts say that there is no technology that can immediately delete viral clips from the internet. So, if the videos are viral, there is still no evidence where they are.

What’s most shocking is, no girls attempted suicide. A few girls fainted due to heat and humidity and protests, and were taken to a hospital. Was this made to suicide rumour? Meanwhile, police arrested the boyfriend and ex-boyfriend of the girl involved.

Question is, if there are no videos of other girls and no suicide attempts, then how come this story spread like wildfire?

• Rumour Mongering – As we are living in the age of social media, where rumours spread at the speed of light, we don’t trust any agencies of the system in place. Sadly, in our great democracy, there is no prominent student leader, who seeks to know of students’ problems and who can grab student attention, to reach an understanding.

So,what was going on in the social media for the past 2 days? On one hand, messages like ‘don’t forward any vulgar video – it could be your sister’ rightly put, but, on the contrary, wild claims like girls dying by suicide, etc. were wreaking havoc in the country. But, just think about the condition of the parents who were unaware of the misinformation related to it, and were stressed about the well-being of theirdaughters in the hostels. So, fake news spreaders are as guilty as MMS circulators.

Is it because of the mishandling of the situation by Chandigarh university? Ofcourse, to a greater extent. The admin of Chandigarh University didn’t help either – turned off Wi-Fi when the situation went haywire. The warden started to be rude to the girls. The girls were told to stop protesting or would face suspension – for we seem to have entered a culture where protest is anti-national.

Now, after widespread anger, Chandigarh University has suspended the wardens of the girl’s hostels. Wardens are transferred and hostel timings, earlier restrictive for girls, may be changed. Chandigarh University is closed till 24 September. Parents are taking their daughters home, so the University in question is answerable to many.

Let’s not miss the deeper issue – distrust of the public in the system in general, lack of trust on the police, politician, media. May be, the readers of this article, will think that I am lying too. Well, I don’t know if clips of girls were recorded; if Yes then the culprits won’t be spared, forensic audit will reveal the big picture, if any.

Any uploads on the internet will be tracked. If such clips are there, then the question on police, media, and administration’s intention will be unveiled. But, what’s clear is that there was no attempt of suicide as claimed, so why were such news written online? Kindly, first, confirm whether the news is true or not. What and why is this incessant need of the media to break news first?

And regarding the trust, please don’t trust social media. Rumours become news on social media. So please beware before sharing sensitive informative online. Else, like the Sadhus in Palghar, many young girls too would have lost their lives in consequence of such rumours.

[Images from different sources]

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