Expressing concern over the ongoing student protests, a group of faculty members of the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-Madras) have said that “young, simple-minded and (many a time) poor students entering the campuses are being seen as fodder in the ideological war of their mentors”. Fifty-eight faculty members, including the dean of administration, P Sriram, have signed the statement which has also been sent to President Pranab Mukherjee. Stating that “institutions of higher learning are being converted into war zones by some academicians, politicians and media outlets”, they emphasised the “need to save educational institutions from the scholarship of abuse and hate”. “We support intellectual freedom, and alternative views are a must for democracy and creativity. However, there is a deep distortion of the meaning of academic freedom, which is leading to a vitiated atmosphere in the campuses,” said the statement, adding that students joining institutions to become scholars were becoming protesters instead. Stating that the students were being taught the language of abuse, hate and discord at the cost of sobriety, reflection and harmony, the statement said: “In the name of academic autonomy, angry academics should not wage their ideological wars, nor can an institute campus be beyond the norms of the society outside in matters of abusive and hateful expressions. Calling for dismemberment and ruin of our country in the name of dissent is not acceptable, even in a university.” When contacted, Shreepad Karmalkar of the department of electrical engineering, who drafted the statement, said it was not only about JNU but also about other campuses in the country, including Hyderabad Central University and even IIT-Madras, referring to the controversy and protests surrounding the ban of Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle last year. “By saying that young, simple minded and many a time poor students are vulnerable to such protests, we have been trying to portray the real fact of how economically poor students are becoming the agitators. Not all poor students, but many a time, these are poor students who fall prey to a section,” he said. Meanwhile, IIT-Madras students also organised a rally late Tuesday evening to express solidarity with JNU students.
