The government directive has asked college principals to allow only debates, dramas, songs and dances at functions. But the ban on fashion shows hasn’t gone down well with the student community in Bhopal. "If students across the country can participate in such shows why can’t we in MP?" asks a college student.
But the Gaur government has gone further in making MP a sanitised state. It has put a state-wide ban on posters, hoardings and cut-outs featuring its leaders. After a two-day brainstorming session at Pachmarhi, the BJP announced that the cadre should concentrate on "ground-level work" rather than hoardings and posters.
Earlier this month, the government also ordered the swapping of the buildings of Hamidia and Maharani Laxmi Bai (MLB) colleges in Bhopal. Both have more than 6,000 students on their rolls and are more than half-a-century old. The MLB, located inside the walled city, is a women’s college. Hamidia, a college for males, falls well outside. The government gave no reasons for the swap but the cat was out of the bag when the local rss spokesperson thanked the government for the move. "We had been demanding this for long and now that the BJP is in power, our demand has been met," he said. The spokesperson said that with MLB moving out of the "Muslim-dominated" old city, it would put to an end "the luring away of Hindu girls of MLB by Muslim boys". Pramod Navalkar should be impressed.
