Even as IIT Madras issued a statement on Friday declaring that it had "temporarily derecognised" a student group for using the institution’s name to garner support for its activities despite lacking official permission to do so, members of the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle produced a copy of a letter from the authorities allowing them to use a classroom for their meetings.
In no mood to relent, members of the 100-member strong forum, formed last April to promote “scientific and rational thinking”, accused the authorities of discriminatory behavior. “There is nothing political about discussing socio-economic issues facing the country through literature and lectures,” said one member requesting anonymity. “We don’t know what the government will get out of it but it is clear that Hindutva-led groups are being given full freedom on this campus itself.”
The conflict between the student group and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras began to simmer a fortnight ago, when the Ministry of Human Resource Development sent a letter to the director of the establishment asking for his comments the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle be sent to the ministry. The ministry said it had received an anonymous complaint about the group for “distributing controversial pamphlets in the campus and creating hatred atmosphere among students”.
A week later, IIT-M's dean (for student affairs) MS Sivakumar told the forum in an email that had been derecognised, citing a “misuse of privileges. “You are welcome to come and explain your stand and actions," he added.
The pamphlet in question reproduced excerpts from a speech on the contemporary relevance of Dr Ambedkar given by R Vivekandanda Gopal, an academic with the Dravidian University, at an event organised by the forum on the IIT campus on April 14. Gopal had criticised the Modi regime for its perceived pro-corporate policies such as the Land Acquisition Bill and insurance and labour reforms. The speech accused the government of "communally polarising" Indians.
The Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle, formed on Ambedkar Jayanti in April last year, claimed that it has been banned simply for criticising the government. In a public response to the derecognition, it claimed that the institution was stifling dissent.
The institute, however, issued an official statement claiming that it does not "curtail" students' freedom of expression but declared that it was following the rules.
Statement by IIT-M.
According to a student, the authorities are targeting the forum even though it had the required permissions. “The director had allowed us to organise ourselves into a non-political forum last year and gave us written permission to use infrastructure,” he said. “Now, we are being targeted for putting up pamphlets without permission but who follows the code of conduct here? People don’t even know it exists.”
Permission letter.
Members said that even the identity of the group, which takes its name from the caste reformer Periyar EV Ramaswamy and Dalit icon BR Ambedkar, seemed to have made the authorities uncomfortable. In September, one student said, the dean asked members of the group to choose a name that is not “polarising” and “more general in appeal”.
They refused to budge. “Why should we change the name when we are promoting scientific temper?” said a member of the group.
Abhinav Surya, a student of mechanical engineering, said that the ban was an attempt to curb dissent. “If we were promoting right-wing ideology, the Ministry of Human Resource Development would have had no problem whatsoever,” he claimed. “The problem is that we are critiquing the administration for things that affect us and they can’t take it.”
Conservative groups
Many on campus say that the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle isn’t the only contentious student organisation. They claim that the administration has given Hindutva organisations a great deal of leeway to make claims that go “against scientific temper”.
“The Vivekananda Study Circle has been around the institution has been around for several years and yet nobody objects to it,” said a student, who requested anonymity. “The whole objective of the group is to promote Hindutva ideology. Every week a swamiji comes from the Rama Krishna Math to preach the greatness of Hinduism.”
According to Surya, several similar societies are allowed to function unhindered. “There is Dhruva which claims to provide spiritual counselling of some sort but it teaches things which are grossly unscientific,” he alleged. “Then there is Santulan, which promotes creationism, while Vande Mataram even has some links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and promotes jingoistic nationalistic ideals of a Hindu nation.”
Previous crackdowns
Students claim that this isn’t the first time ideology has landed a student organisation in trouble. Last year, a group called ChintaBAR, which aimed to promote discussion and debate on socio-political issues, was questioned by the dean for promoting the Kiss of Love event on the campus as part of a national campaign to protest attacks on courting couples in Kerala by conservative groups.
The society claims its event, Celebrating Love, was “not Kiss of Love but a celebration of love”. However, ChintaBAR was instructed to get itself registered under college guidelines with a faculty advisor.
“They did that with college magazines, ChintaBAR and now they are doing it to people from APSC,” said a PhD scholar, who requested anonymity. “I used to be a part of APSC and they never did anything even remotely incendiary or anti-national. It’s just a forum for critiquing the policy and brainstorming on ways to benefit the democracy but those with vested interests in certain ideologies won’t let dissent to survive on the campus.”
The Dean of Students at the IIT-Madras and Prisca Mathew from the Ministry for Human Resource Development did not respond to calls and emails sent by Scroll seeking comment.
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In no mood to relent, members of the 100-member strong forum, formed last April to promote “scientific and rational thinking”, accused the authorities of discriminatory behavior. “There is nothing political about discussing socio-economic issues facing the country through literature and lectures,” said one member requesting anonymity. “We don’t know what the government will get out of it but it is clear that Hindutva-led groups are being given full freedom on this campus itself.”
The conflict between the student group and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras began to simmer a fortnight ago, when the Ministry of Human Resource Development sent a letter to the director of the establishment asking for his comments the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle be sent to the ministry. The ministry said it had received an anonymous complaint about the group for “distributing controversial pamphlets in the campus and creating hatred atmosphere among students”.
The Ministry for Human Resource Development to IIT-Madras.
A week later, IIT-M's dean (for student affairs) MS Sivakumar told the forum in an email that had been derecognised, citing a “misuse of privileges. “You are welcome to come and explain your stand and actions," he added.
The pamphlet in question reproduced excerpts from a speech on the contemporary relevance of Dr Ambedkar given by R Vivekandanda Gopal, an academic with the Dravidian University, at an event organised by the forum on the IIT campus on April 14. Gopal had criticised the Modi regime for its perceived pro-corporate policies such as the Land Acquisition Bill and insurance and labour reforms. The speech accused the government of "communally polarising" Indians.
The pamphlet attached to the Ministry of Human Resource Development letter to IIT-Madras.
The Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle, formed on Ambedkar Jayanti in April last year, claimed that it has been banned simply for criticising the government. In a public response to the derecognition, it claimed that the institution was stifling dissent.
The institute, however, issued an official statement claiming that it does not "curtail" students' freedom of expression but declared that it was following the rules.
Statement by IIT-M.
According to a student, the authorities are targeting the forum even though it had the required permissions. “The director had allowed us to organise ourselves into a non-political forum last year and gave us written permission to use infrastructure,” he said. “Now, we are being targeted for putting up pamphlets without permission but who follows the code of conduct here? People don’t even know it exists.”
Permission letter.
Members said that even the identity of the group, which takes its name from the caste reformer Periyar EV Ramaswamy and Dalit icon BR Ambedkar, seemed to have made the authorities uncomfortable. In September, one student said, the dean asked members of the group to choose a name that is not “polarising” and “more general in appeal”.
They refused to budge. “Why should we change the name when we are promoting scientific temper?” said a member of the group.
Abhinav Surya, a student of mechanical engineering, said that the ban was an attempt to curb dissent. “If we were promoting right-wing ideology, the Ministry of Human Resource Development would have had no problem whatsoever,” he claimed. “The problem is that we are critiquing the administration for things that affect us and they can’t take it.”
Conservative groups
Many on campus say that the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle isn’t the only contentious student organisation. They claim that the administration has given Hindutva organisations a great deal of leeway to make claims that go “against scientific temper”.
“The Vivekananda Study Circle has been around the institution has been around for several years and yet nobody objects to it,” said a student, who requested anonymity. “The whole objective of the group is to promote Hindutva ideology. Every week a swamiji comes from the Rama Krishna Math to preach the greatness of Hinduism.”
According to Surya, several similar societies are allowed to function unhindered. “There is Dhruva which claims to provide spiritual counselling of some sort but it teaches things which are grossly unscientific,” he alleged. “Then there is Santulan, which promotes creationism, while Vande Mataram even has some links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and promotes jingoistic nationalistic ideals of a Hindu nation.”
Previous crackdowns
Students claim that this isn’t the first time ideology has landed a student organisation in trouble. Last year, a group called ChintaBAR, which aimed to promote discussion and debate on socio-political issues, was questioned by the dean for promoting the Kiss of Love event on the campus as part of a national campaign to protest attacks on courting couples in Kerala by conservative groups.
The society claims its event, Celebrating Love, was “not Kiss of Love but a celebration of love”. However, ChintaBAR was instructed to get itself registered under college guidelines with a faculty advisor.
“They did that with college magazines, ChintaBAR and now they are doing it to people from APSC,” said a PhD scholar, who requested anonymity. “I used to be a part of APSC and they never did anything even remotely incendiary or anti-national. It’s just a forum for critiquing the policy and brainstorming on ways to benefit the democracy but those with vested interests in certain ideologies won’t let dissent to survive on the campus.”
The Dean of Students at the IIT-Madras and Prisca Mathew from the Ministry for Human Resource Development did not respond to calls and emails sent by Scroll seeking comment.