When the authorities of a government-funded and administered institution of repute chooses to >de-recognise a student group based on an active position it takes on social and ideological issues, there is something very wrong with the approach. The Ambedkar-Periyar Study Circle (APSC) at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras has been distributing pamphlets and posters that call for, among other things, removal of ‘brahminical tyranny’. The circle has also been extremely critical of Narendra Modi and his government, objecting to what it terms ‘anti-poor’ and Hindutva-oriented policies. Detractors, in turn, have objected to what they call the ‘casteist’ and ‘political’ message the APSC has been seeking to spread. An anonymous complaint received by the Ministry of Human Resource Development was forwarded to the IIT-M management. The management, in what appeared to be a knee-jerk reaction, derecognised the APSC, >saying student bodies cannot use the Institute’s name as part of their title without approval, adding that the APSC could seek a review anyway. With the political climate today being so charged, the incident has had national repercussions, with leaders and commentators seeing in the move a grave attack on the freedom of speech. They are right and justified in taking the position.
The IIT-M does not allow political activity or politically-affiliated unions on its campus. Student bodies, including the APSC, are recognised by the Institute in order to foster healthy debates on the campus. There are apprehensions that political parties would find a backdoor entry through such bodies, but the APSC is not formally associated with any political party. In this case, the APSC has campaigned against certain political parties by naming them, and taken positions against religious orthodoxy, even questioning organised religion itself. These radical positions should not really surprise anyone as Tamil Nadu is a State that has had a rationalist political tradition. The APSC’s activism has been criticised by detractors and it has been sought to be associated with “hate speech”. But such an association will be spurious, as questioning orthodoxy and conservatism is not tantamount to hate speech, which is characterised by a deliberate targeting of communities rather than beliefs . What the IIT-M management must seek to do is to not let political discussions and debates to descend into vituperative attacks and hate speech. Instead, by resorting to a quick ban, being passed off as a “temporary de-recognition”, the IIT-M management is playing into the >hands of short-sighted critics . Academic excellence, freedom of speech and expression, and freedom of association should go hand in hand; they should not be seen as mutually exclusive.
