25 Years Ago, This Student Changed His University — But No One Gave Him Credit

In the year 2000, Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Gorakhpur University held its annual Youth Parliament competition. Among the participants was Vikram Harijan, then a final-year BA student and a Dalit, who was selected to play the role of the Leader of the Ruling Party. The topic assigned to him was the Women’s Reservation Bill.

Today, Dr. Vikram Harijan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medieval and Modern History at Allahabad University. But back then, during the heated Youth Parliament session, Vikram raised a sharp, forward-thinking point: while the university debated women’s rights and representation, its own application forms and ID cards carried only the father’s name, leaving no space for the mother’s name.

This issue sparked attention, and soon after, the university administration implemented changes to include mothers’ names on all forms and identity cards — a significant reform for the time.

However, years later, as national debates around women’s issues resurfaced, Vikram claims the credit for this change was quietly shifted. According to him, then-Vice Chancellor Prof. Radhe Mohan Mishra began publicly taking sole credit for the reform, erasing the role played by Vikram and his original intervention. Vikram has shared with The Mooknayak several newspaper clippings from that time where his name was omitted, despite being the catalyst for the reform.

Recalling the event from 25 years ago, Vikram says, “During my speech, I held up the university’s ID card and showed it to everyone. I said, ‘Today we’re discussing the Women’s Reservation Bill, but right here in our university, we don’t even have the option to include a mother’s name on official documents.’”

The point resonated deeply among those present. Vikram remembers that after the session, Vice Chancellor Mishra acknowledged the issue, saying, “Women’s caste changes after marriage — there’s nothing I can do about that. But from today, the mother’s name will be included on all university forms and ID cards.”

In the years that followed, however, Vikram noticed his name fading from the media coverage. Instead, the Vice Chancellor was credited as the sole reformer. Today, Vikram still expresses disappointment over this erasure, calling it “discrimination.”

Reflecting on his student days, Dr. Vikram says, “I was naturally inclined towards debates, speeches, and writing competitions. I learned about the Youth Parliament and wanted to participate, but it wasn’t easy for me. After several attempts, and with the help of Prof. Ankur Gupta and Prof. Harsh Sinha, I finally made it in. I was chosen to lead the discussion on the Women’s Reservation Bill.”

He vividly remembers quoting the legendary poet Sahir Ludhianvi during his speech:

“Mardon ne banai jo rasmen, usko haq ka farman kaha,
aurat ke jinda jalne ko, kurbani aur balidan kaha.”

He spoke passionately about women’s rights and highlighted the university’s own shortcomings. “The next day, on February 11, all the newspapers covered the issue,” Vikram recalls.

Fast forward to the present, Vikram says he felt overlooked again when Prime Minister Modi’s government passed the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament. “On that occasion, Hindustan newspaper ran a feature story. They quoted Ankur Sir and Harsh Sinha Sir, but there was no mention of the point I had raised in the Youth Parliament. The article simply quoted the Vice Chancellor saying that mothers’ names would now be included in university records. Photos of several people were published, but I was mentioned only in passing — just that I’m now an Assistant Professor at Allahabad University.”