Patiala, March 11
Close on the heels of being booked for making lewd gestures at a student, fresh allegations have cropped up against the Punjabi University Vice-Chancellor, Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, with another girl today claiming that she was pressured to visit the VC’s residence in order to “concentrate” on the topic of her research.

Inderjeet Kaur, a PhD student in Punjabi drama, in an exclusive interview with The Tribune, claimed that the exploitation and harassment of girls continued unabated during the tenure of Dr Ahluwalia and that she too had been a victim.

She said last year an advertisement was published for the post of Fellow and she had applied for it as she had two years of research behind her, besides being a columnist on theatre with a newspaper. “I was confident of getting the job”, she said.

She said she did reasonably well in the interview. Later, she received a message from the VC through the department that he was leaving for abroad and if she wanted the Fellowship she should come to his house to “concentrate” on the topic. She said she did not wish to discuss anything with the VC at his residence, asking him how he would feel if female members of his family were put in a similar position.

Meanwhile, girls are coming out strongly against Dr Ahluwalia. Smriti Bhardwaj, doing her postgraduation in theatre and television, said the allegations against the VC were based on facts. She said last year she along with other students of MA I, were asked to attend a meeting to discuss the purchase of cameras and editing tables in connection with a film made by the university artist Sobha Singh.

She said: “We had just begun the course and were new to the technological aspects to be discussed at the meeting which was held at the VC’s residence. What surprised me was the fact that none of the students of MA II, which mainly comprised boys, were invited, though being senior their presence was more important than ours”.