CPI (ML) welcomes the re-recognition of Ambedkar-Periyar Study Circle by IIT Madras administration and congratulates the students of APSC who refused to bow down in front of the autocratic dictates of the institute. The re-recognition is a victory of students of APSC, IIT Madras and all the progressive organizations and individuals who took to the streets to ensure that such steps that were aimed at curbing dissent and freedom of expression and also towards imposing upper caste hegemony, were resolutely fought defeated.
However, it is unfortunate that despite being forced to take back its oppressive dictates, both the IITM administration and the MHRD have not yet offered an apology for acting on the basis of anonymous complaints while giving no chance to the concerned group to present its case. Both IITM and MHRD owed an apology to the students of APSC.
It is extremely shameful that MHRD that immediately shot off a letter to IIT, Madras on receiving an anonymous complaint about the activities of APSC, for over a year has been sitting over a complaint of a student of Pondicherry University who was illegally detained and tortured and forced to strip by the institutional authorities over false charges. The student in his complaint had named the Director of Academic Staff College, a faculty of department of International Business, two security officials and the Vice Chancellor of the University. While there is ample evidence backing the student’s complaint and exposing the ruthlessness of the concerned authorities, the MHRD has not thought it worthy to act on this complaint and question any of the university officials who were involved in the harassment of the student. Such double standards in acting on complaints reveals the agenda of the ruling government which is to curb all critique of the government while having no problems with actual hatred being spread against students coming from socio-economically disadvantaged homes by university authorities.
CPI (ML) condemns this shocking abuse of authority by Pondicherry University administration and demands that MHRD act on the complaint immediately. Besides suitable action against the culprits, the institute must tender him an apology and compensate him for the trauma he has been forced to undergo.
