IIT Bombay issues interim guidelines on holding events on campus

After a series of controversial developments in the recent past related to events/talks organised by the Humanities and Social Sciences department at the Institute, the administration, as announced earlier, has documented and released interim guidelines on holding of events. Along with detailed directives, the document also prohibits protests on campus without permission for the same.

“Protests of any form including marches or gatherings on the campus require prior permission from the institute and local police,” the document states. The name of the institute or the academic unit, including its abbreviation, the document says further, cannot be associated with any event which does not have prial approval from the competent authority as per the guidelines issued.

The external speaker review committee will be appointed by the Director of the Institute in order to vet the external speakers. “This committee will review details of speakers/videos, (including speaker bio, abstract of the talk, public links on the speaker and the talk, copies of recorded material to be played at the event, etc). This information must be provided by the faculty member who is hosting the event/ talk/ seminar,” state the guidelines, which are only interim as of now, while a more comprehensive set will be created after an in-depth study by a committee.

According to the interim guidelines, heads of respective academic units may approve the speaker/ videos/ documentaries, if they adjudge that the talk/ movie has no political content and is not potentially controversial. Otherwise, advance approval from the external speaker review committee is a must.

“While IIT Bombay encourages free and open discussion on educational subjects, it must also remain apolitical in all its endeavours. Hence, it is imperative that our students, faculty and staff members stay away from activities/ events on campus that may invite socio-political controversies, divert IIT from its primary mission, or bring IIT Bombay into disrepute,” states the document released by the institute. A stern warning has been added to the document, warning of disciplinary action against anyone, including students, who violates defamation rules or indulges in any form of indiscipline.

According to the guidelines, events that are scientific, technological, research-based, literary or artistic, that have absolutely no political content are ‘purely non-political’ events. Whereas, ‘potentially political’ events are those that have any content that may be viewed as political or socially conflicting.

Recently, IIT Bombay cancelled a lecture to be delivered by retired Delhi University Professors – Achin Vanaik on the topic of Israel Palestine: The Historical Context. A day after this information was out in public, another lecture organised at the HSS department of IIT Bombay came under the spotlight. This lecture, by Prof Sharmishtha Saha held on November 6 involved screening of the 2004 documentary film, ‘Arna’s Children’ where Sudhanva Deshpande, of Naja Natya Manch (JANAM), New Delhi was invited to introduce the movie.

A set of students from the institute approached the Powai Police station last week, with a written complaint stating that as a guest lecturer, Deshpande allegedly praised Zakaria Zubeidi, who is associated with Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a coalition of Palestinian armed groups. Days after the police complaint, a there was a protest at the main gate of the IIT Bombay’s Powai campus; following which institute administration in an email to all students had declared that it is working on policy for organising public events or lectures, and a code of conduct for students, faculty and staff to avoid such issues in future.