Row over IIT Madras Student Group ban

Janjivan Bureau
New Delhi/Chennai: A students’ group has been banned at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras after an anonymous complaint to the central government accused it of trying to “spread hatred” towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi through provocative pamphlets and posters.
The Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle (APSC), a student association in IIT-Madras has been de-recognised by the management following an anonymous complaint to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) that alleged that the body has been criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his policies and Hindus, besides raising caste issues.
The student body was banned by the dean of students, Sivakumar M Srinivasan, on May 24 following a letter from MHRD dated May 15 inquiring about complaints raised against APSC.
“We have temporarily derecognised the group. They used IIT’s name for publicity without permission. IIT doesn’t curtail freedom of expression, but the group violated guidelines,” Professor K Ramamurthy, the acting Director of IIT-Madras, told reporters today.
Scores of student activists affiliated to the Congress protested in Delhi outside Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani’s residence against the ban. They accused the minister of bullying IIT-Madras.
Someone sent an anonymous complaint to the HRD ministry accusing the Ambedkar Periyar Student Circle at IIT-Madras of spreading “hatred” against the Prime Minister. At issue is a pamphlet reproducing the speech of Dravidian university academic R Vivekananda Gopal on Dr. Ambedkar which accuses the government of a “Hindutva agenda”, “assisting multinational corporates to loot Mother India” and “communally polarizing the people by the ban on cow slaughtering, ghar wapasi program and promoting Vedas”.
The ministry had written to IIT-Madras on May 15 that it had received an “anonymous letter” and a pamphlet of the study circle highlighting a critical speech by academician R Vivekananda Gopal. “The Modi government, while carrying forward its Hindutva agenda, is simultaneously assisting the multinational corporates to loot mother India,” the professor had said in his speech.
The students’ group has denied that it was trying to instigate protests against the government, and says it was never given a chance to explain. “We have not violated the Constitution. The Constitution allows us to criticize the government and its policies,” said Abhinav Surya, the head of the study circle.