In Mumbai, TISS students protest ‘cancellation’ of Bhagat Singh Memorial Lecture

The Indian Express contacted TISS but officials were unavailable for comment.

Around 40 students, including members of the Progressive Students Forum (PSF) and the BSML organising committee, participated in the protest from around 9.30 pm until midnight.

“We would like to inform the TISS campus that the director and registrar of the TISS administration have insulted martyr Bhagat Singh by cancelling permission for the BSML on his 92nd death anniversary. It has been happening on campus for the last five years. The event is cancelled without giving any reason. This is a total injustice and insult to not commemorate the martyrs who gave their life for the cause of freedom,” a statement issued by the protesting students said.

“The institute administration has not given us anything in writing. It was only verbally communicated to us and there is no appropriate reasoning given for the same,” a PSF representative told The Indian Express. “We were forced to hold the midnight protest as there was no response from the administration. We have written to the authorities again demanding a written communication on the same as we plan to continue the protest on campus again on Wednesday night,” the student added.

Meanwhile, an official from the institute said, “The organisers did not follow the procedures laid down for events in the campus. As per the rule, events are organised through the Students Union or a faculty takes responsibility and anchors it. Thus, necessary suggestions are shared with the students. The Institute reserves the right to decline or suggest changes in the proposals in the best interest of the student community and the institute at large.”