It was officially announced that, the public sector University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Muzaffarabad has prohibited putting on lipstick by the female students during studies in the campus.
In a circular dated 21 January, the university administration had said “female students are not allowed to put on lipstick. If seen, they will be fined at the spot for Rs 100 each time”. On Monday, an HR official from the university was quoted by Samaa as saying: “The notification was restricted to the Institute of Education Department and was issued as a part of the department’s dress code policy.” Samaa also writes that the university has rolled back its policy on wearing lipstick following flak from the online community and protests by students.
‘Institute of Education’, University of AJK bans lipstick for female students. In Nov the university had notified all female students to wear abayas. Such regressive actions by institutions that should be bastions of freedom is alarming and violate fundamental rights of students! pic.twitter.com/ycUwmYWXlx
— Aurat March – عورت مارچ (@AuratMarchKHI) January 26, 2020
When will Pakistan stop with the regressive clothing policies for girls? This, however, isn’t the first time that the Pakistani university has been in the news for controversial orders. In November last year, it had instructed women students to wear the abaya on campus. This is one of the reasons why the representation of students is important when it comes to making policies concerning them. However, HEC has voted against the restoration of student unions.