A ‘Shobha Yatra’, a musical event called ‘Ramdhun’ and the inauguration of a ‘Gaushala’ – a series of events have been permitted by the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay to be organised on campus, before and on the day of the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22.
The move has been criticised by a section of students as “politically aligned” that follows the institute’s own guidelines allowing students and faculty to only organise “apolitical” events.
An email sent by the institute’s administration to all students and residents on campus on January 17 announced a musical event called ‘Ramdhun’ based on ‘Geet Ramayan’ (a collection of songs) to be held in the IDC auditorium on campus on January 20.
“It is a pleasure to share the announcement with you of a program, based on the celebrated ‘Geet Ramayan’, on coming Saturday, January 20 at 4:30pm in the IDC auditorium…The program ‘Ramdhun’, will present a selection of songs from ‘Geet Ramayan’ together with some ‘Ram Bhajans’. The performers are from IIT-B community, including the spouses and children of staff and faculty members as well as some students. Hoping to see many of you in the program,” read the email sent by the institute’s public relations office.
However, when News18 reached out to the institute’s spokesperson on the events, they denied holding any event officially.
Another email approved by the administration addressed to campus residents on January 19 said that IIT-Bombay’s director Subhasis Chaudhuri will be inaugurating a gaushala on January 22. “The inauguration ceremony for the new gaushala is scheduled for January 22, 2024 (Monday)… Ashwini Bhide AMC (BMC) and Prof Subhasis Chaudhuri, director, IIT-B will be inaugurating it…”
A huge banner put up on campus also says that a procession called ‘Shri Ram Durbar Shobha Yatra’ will be carried out on January 21.
A students’ collective condemning the administration’s move on giving permission for organising such events said this was completely in contrast with the guidelines issued by the institute on November 14, 2023, which clearly restricted the students as well as faculty from organising any events that were “political” in nature.
“The institute had very recently declared that it shall ‘remain apolitical in all its endeavours’ and has been using the new guidelines to cancel and censor several academic talks and gatherings on campus. It is shocking that the institute allowed such politically-aligned events to be organised while inviting all campus residents to it. The institute bows down to political forces while on the other hand it continues to suppress any activity by the independent student collectives,” said a student representative from the collective.
The guidelines for holding events on campus stated that these may be classified in two categories – “purely non-political’ and “potentially political”. The latter can cause socio-political controversies and must be avoided, it said.
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