Two Facebook posts by Sajeev Mohan, assistant professor at the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram (CET), in connection with the death of Thasni Basheer, a student of the college during Onam celebrations earlier this week, have kicked up a storm on social media.
The first post from Mr. Mohan, on Saturday, was in fact in the form of an apology, asking for pardon from parents who sent their children to the college trusting the teachers and literally taking the moral responsibility for the incident and for ‘shattering the hopes of Thasni’s parents’.
However, though this post elicited a large number of comments, it was Mr. Mohan’s second post, which went into more details, including the caste, rank and academic performance of Baiju K. Balakrishnan, the key accused in the case, that has triggered the storm.
Mr. Mohan, while listing out several reasons, including campus politics, political interventions and the academic system in the college itself, among others, for the unfortunate developments on the campus, mentions that Baiju, who was driving the jeep that struck down Thasni, had got only a 56,000-plus rank for the entrance examination, had earned admission through reservation based on caste, and that he had over 30 back papers to clear. This remark has elicited both positive and negative responses, with many criticising Mr. Mohan for what they called ‘personal and casteist’ remarks.
