Days after the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay asked students and faculty to restrain from organising “political” events on campus, a students’ collective alleged that the institute used force through its internal security to disperse an event organised by them to show solidarity with the victims in Palestine, large number of whom are children, “intimidating them of violence”, “singling out” and “heckling” faculty members.
According to student representatives, some students and faculty members had organised a silent solidarity congregation near the School of Management (SOM) building on November 14 (Children’s Day) to “honour the memory of thousands of children being killed in attacks in the ongoing bombings by Israel in Palestine”. But, the simple event of lighting candles and drawing posters was disrupted by the security staff.
One of the student representatives of the collective, a left-leaning body, said, even before the event could start there were clear signs of “administrative hostility”. A significant security and police presence was noted, seemingly aimed at preventing the planned and pre-informed solidarity gathering.
“As the number of attendees grew, the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of IIT-Bombay arrived, aggressively ordering the group to disperse and confiscating the stationery items brought for poster-making, citing a lack of prior approval for “such activities” even though the institution was pre-informed of the event,” the student said, requesting anonymity.
Students said that the security in-charge ordered the guards, equipped with batons, to take positions and even threatened to organise a drill with additional guards in the same spot, “intimidating the group with the possibility of violence”.
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“Despite attempts by faculty members and some students to explain the silent and peaceful nature of the event, the CSO continued his aggressive and rude behaviour, even singling out professors, heckling them as to why should they come for such events, and also demanding that they instruct their students to leave,” the group said in a statement.
When reached out for a response, an IIT-Bombay spokesperson declined to comment on the issue.
What led to the events?
Previously, on November 11, another event organised by faculty members of the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) department ran into a conflict with the administration sparking protests by a right-wing group of students seeking the arrest of a professor and a guest speaker for allegedly “glorifying terrorism” while talking about the Palestinian freedom struggle against Israel. After this, the faculty forum, a formal body of the institute through which they can voice their opinions, issued a statement “strongly condemning” the protests organised at the institute’s gate.
Following this, the institute’s director Subhasis Chaudhuri in an e-mail to students and faculty raised concerns about students organising a protest along with outsiders raising slogans like “death for traitors” while stating that such actions are “completely unacceptable regardless of what was said in the class” and that action will be taken against the students involved. He also set up a fact-finding committee to look into the actions of students and what happened in the HSS class.
Also, Chaudhuri mentioned in the email itself that the institute will be coming up with guidelines for organising events on campus following which the new guidelines, being described as “gag” orders by students, were issued.
Students to push against guidelines
However, the students collective said that their academic freedom cannot be taken away and that they are going to come out with a statement pushing against the guidelines issued. “Even before the November 11 incident, there have been a series of events organised and taken permission for but were cancelled by the institute at the last moment. Also, the institute can mouse force to disperse a peacefully protesting group, which is a right of every citizen,” said a student from the HSS department.
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