TISS suspends Dalit PhD student for 2 years for ‘anti-national activities’

The suspension order refers to a show-cause notice sent to Ramadas on March 7 (a copy of which is available with The Indian Express) and states that a committee constituted following the notice submitted its recommendations on April 17. “The Committee recommended your suspension for two years and your entry shall be debarred across all campuses of TISS,” states the suspension order addressed to Ramadas adding that the recommendations have been accepted by the competent authority.

The notice dated March 7 stated that Ramadas misused the institute name by participating in the protest under the banner of – PSF-TISS. As per the notice, since PSF is not a recognised student body of the institute, Ramdas using the name created a wrongful impression of the institute, which is funded under the Ministry of Education.

The Parliament march in January was organised under the banner of United Students of India, a joint platform of 16 student organisations, against the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 with the slogan “Save Education, Reject NEP, Save India, Reject BJP”.

A statement issued by the PSF on Friday states, “The march was an attempt to make student voices heard against the ruling BJP and its anti-student policies in the form of the National Education Policy 2020. However, by suspending a student and debarring his entry into campus for two years, the TISS administration is indirectly trying to curb all dissent against the BJP government.”

Ramadas, a PhD scholar from Dalit community, is a former general secretary of the PSF. He is currently member of central executive committee of Student Federation of India (SFI), which is the umbrella body of PSF. He is also joint secretary of the SFI Maharashtra State Committee.

The institute, in its March 7 show-cause notice, had also raised objections to social media posts by Ramadas from January, calling upon students to join screening of the documentary “Raam Ke Naam” on January 26, calling it “a mark of dishonour and protest against the Ram Mandir inauguration in Ayodhya”. “Ram ke Naam” is a national award-winning documentary by Anand Patwardhan.

The statement issued by PSF on Friday said that it has been officially screened in TISS multiple times. “The documentary is also available for public viewing on YouTube and has also been screened on Doordarshan. The current TISS administration, however, wants to censure voices even in the online space in what students want to share and talk about,” it stated.

Stating that Ramadas has history of holding unauthorised events and demonstrations under the banner of PSF-TISS, the show-cause notice listed out other activities such as screening of banned BBC documentary on campus on January 28, 2023, conducting Bhagat Singh Memorial Lecture by inviting “controversial speakers”, conducting sit-in outside the TISS director’s bungalow at late night with loud sloganeering.

While Ramadas did not want to comment on the happenings, a student closely associated with him said that he has responded to all notices issued by the institute.

“He has responded to the March 7 notice too. We are shocked with the action taken by the institute,” said the student.

The PSF alleged that actions of the administration highlight a trend of active support of the ruling BJP government at the cost of the future of students coming from marginalised backgrounds.

A statement issued by PSF said, “As a first-generation learner, Ramadas has unequivocally defended student rights on campus. Beyond his work as an activist, Ramadas is also a meritorious student, receiving the National Fellowship for Scheduled Castes by the Ministry of Social Justice, Government of India, for excelling in the UGC-NET examination. The autocratic actions of the TISS administration are a direct attack on marginalised students who hope to pursue higher education in public-funded institutions.”

Stating that Ramadas is more like a political activist than a student, a senior administrative official from the institute said, “He has been involved in many violations of discipline codes made for students. Such activities bring bad name to the institute and impact the prospects of other students studying in the institute.”