TISS students’ body expresses solidarity with suspended student, calls action ‘unfair’

Ramadas Prini Sivanandan, a PhD student from its School of Development Studies, was suspended through an order dated April 18. The order referred to a show-cause notice issued to him in March, seeking his explanation for “repetitive misconduct” and “anti-national activities”, and suspended him for two years. It also barred his entry into all campuses of TISS.

The action was based on the recommendations by an empowered committee, which conducted detailed inquiry into his misconduct following the show-cause notice in March. But the SU, in its statement, raised questions on the committee stating that the president of the SU is a member of the empowered committee and yet was not informed of any meetings with respect to this case. The SU president, as the statement reads, “was not asked to be present for the meeting where these decisions of suspensions were made”.

Calling the suspension of two years a “harsh penalty”, which disproportionately impacts the academic journey of a student, the statement by SU stated, that the TISS is “straying from its core mission of fostering critical thinking by succumbing to contemporary political pressure”.

The institute administration, had issued public notice in this regard on Saturday alleging “malicious propaganda”, stating that Ramadas KS exhibited “a shift in focus towards activities unrelated to his academic pursuits engaging in events, protests, and other activities influenced by personal political agendas”. And failed to comply despite repeated advisories.