Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
While an interim report by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay on Darshan Solanki, a first-year student at the institute who died by suicide last month, has ruled out caste-based discrimination, a written statement by one of his seniors has come to light, which mentions that Solanki was inquiring about the process of changing hostel room as his roommate was talking less to him after coming to know of his rank. The statement is by a former student of IIT Bombay.
Referring to his conversation with Solanki on the campus in the third and fourth week of November last year, the statement states that Solanki wanted to know the process of changing his hostel room. “He told me that his roommate had reduced talking to him after knowing each other’s rank,” the statement reads. The senior, who in his statement shared that he tried to comfort him, also mentions loneliness and academic pressure faced by Solanki. The signed statement was allegedly submitted to the 12-member committee constituted by the institute to investigate the circumstances leading to Solanki’s death.
The interim report submitted by the committee on March 2, however, does not mention the statement. It instead reads, “A senior SC-ST student whose audio call recording was submitted to the committee by one of the student collectives denied any specific instance of caste-based discrimination faced by Darshan during direct deposition to the committee.”
In light of findings of the survey conducted by the SC/ST students cell at IIT Bombay, which stated that 37 per cent of the respondents felt they were asked about their rank and identity, questions have been raised as to why the statement was not made part of the interim report submitted by the fact-finding committee.
Dheeraj Singh, an IIT Kanpur alumnus and a former research associate at IIT Bombay who is mobilising IIT alumni and faculty for SC/ST welfare, said, “Why did the IIT Bombay committee decide to not include the testimony of the key witness who has mentioned in a signed statement that Solanki confessed to him that his general category roommate stopped talking to him after knowing his rank?”
The IIT Bombay administration, however, has stated that the committee has not received any statement from the alumnus after his deposition.
In a written statement, the administration said, “The alumni being quoted, during direct interaction categorically told that Darshan never mentioned any problem being faced by him related to his caste or any other issue. Though both Darshan and the roommate exchanged information on their JEE ranks, he did not assign the reason for the room change query to his caste or JEE rank. On the matter of “reduced talking with roommates”, the senior advised Darshan that it is not necessary that the roommates always have to talk to each other, and asked him to make more friends.”
The statement continued, “It may be noted that the above interactions were at the start of the semester, and the wingmates (belonging to all categories and including the roommate) had good relationships, and in fact were planning to go out together to a mall on the day of the incident, and to an amusement park the next day, at the end of the semester.”
Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
