New Delhi: A group of writers, activists, and representatives from Left and Dalit socio-political organisations, along with other concerned citizens, gathered outside the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (Tiss) Mumbai campus to stage a protest, were detained by the police on Wednesday (March 26) evening.
The group was protesting against what they termed as “anti-student” policies of the institute’s management, reported Mid-Day.
The demonstrators were also expressing their solidarity with Tiss student Ramadas Prini Sivanandan, a PhD scholar and member of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) central executive committee, who was suspended last year.
A day before the protest, the Tiss administration issued an advisory warning students against participating in protests.
The protesters were later released.
In April last year, the Tiss had suspended Sivanandan, a PhD scholar with the development studies department, for participating in a protest rally in New Delhi.
For taking part in a student-led rally, Sivanandan was accused of engaging in “political activities”. The institute called him “anti-national” because the rally criticised the BJP-led government’s National Education Policy (NEP) and even invited “investigating agencies” to take action against him.
The protestors on Wednesday said that they had organised the protest to defend freedom of speech and protect democratic spaces within the campus.
