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Journalism of Courage
A group of protesters Saturday demanded police action against a professor and a guest speaker at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay for allegedly glorifying terrorism. The demonstration was carried out near the institute’s main gate.
Ashok Tidke from Vivek Vichar Manch said, “Today’s protest was to show our support to the students who are raising their voices against the pro-terrorism statements and views expressed by guest lecturers and faculty members at the Humanities and Social Science (HSS) department. Some existing and former students along with other concerned citizens participated in the protest.”
Apart from the arrest of the professor, the protestors also sought a probe into the phone calls between the professor and the guest speaker to find out the ‘motive’ behind the lecture that was held on November 6.
This comes days after a few students from the institute approached the Powai Police station with a written complaint against the duo for allegedly expressing views in support of Hamas and terrorists.
Notably, IIT Bombay had cancelled a different lecture on November 7. It was to be delivered by retired Delhi University professor Achin Vanaik on the topic, ‘Israel Palestine: The Historical Context’. Soon after the cancellation of this talk, some students from the HSS department had written to the HOD about the ‘loss of academic freedom’ in the department over the last few months. Whereas a students’ collective – IIT Bombay for Justice – had issued a public statement on ‘curtailment of academic freedom’ at IIT Bombay.
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