Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Abhishek Pandey reportedly stated that the IIT administration called the police as soon as possible to report the occurrence, as reported by Hindustan Times. The police team further provided that the circumstances behind Jaiswal’s death are being looked into by a forensic team. The team also stated that possible reasons behind Jaiswal’s suicide will only be revealed after a preliminary probe and completing other formalities. 

The tragic news came to light after the father of the research scholar reached out to the hostel manager, Ritu Pandey, after being worried about his daughter’s lack of response since Wednesday. When they arrived at her room, Priyanka was hanging and her door was locked from the inside.

APPSC, Ambedkar Periyar Phule study circle, a student collective of IIT Bombay took to ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) to shed light on this issue. In his post, the collective wrote “Students protesting at IIT Kanpur following the 3 recent suicides in one month, raising issues of incompetence of redressal mechanisms, representation, and demanding accountability from the administration”.

The post can be viewed here:

Students protesting at @IITKanpur following the 3 recent suicides in one month, raising issues of incompetence of redressal mechanisms, representation, and demanding accountability from the administration @voxiitk #studentsunity #nomoreinstitutionalmurders pic.twitter.com/KNQHTEsM2t

— APPSC IIT Bombay (@AppscIITb) January 19, 2024

Official Statement from IIT Kanpur

An official statement was released by IIT Kanpur as the news of the suicide broke out, expressing deep sorrow over the loss. The institute mourned the “untimely and unfortunate demise” of the student and stated that institute had lost a bright and promising young student.  The statement is as follows: “With profound grief, IIT Kanpur mourns the untimely and unfortunate demise of a PhD student, Ms. Priyanka Jaiswal, who joined the Department of Chemical Engineering of the Institute last month, which is December 2023. The Institute is awaiting the police investigation to determine the likely cause of the death. With Ms. Priyanka’s passing away, the Institute lost a bright and promising young student.”

Previous two incidents of suicides in the past 5 weeks:

The unfortunate incident comes after two student suicides on campus in the previous five weeks. On January 11, M. Tech second-year student Vikas Kumar Meena (aged 31) allegedly hanged himself from the ceiling fan in his IIT, Kanpur hostel room, reportedly after he was “temporarily” barred from continuing with his course.

Prior to this, on December 19, postdoctoral researcher in the biosciences and bioengineering department Pallavi Chilka (aged 34) hanged herself from the ceiling fan of her second-floor hostel room on the campus.

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Dalit MBBS female intern allegedly died by suicide due to caste discrimination

The post IIT Kanpur: Third incident of suicide in five weeks, a 29-year-old PhD scholar found dead in her dorm room appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Supreme Court preferred a “conciliatory approach” in a case filed by a Dalit faculty member of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur against four senior professors alleging caste harassment reported LiveLaw. Commenting that the allegations and counter-allegations ‘damage the reputation of a premier institution’, the Court suggested that the Chairman of the Board of Governors invite the complainant Subrahmanyam Saderla and the four accused professors Chandra Shekhar Upadhyay, Ishan Sharma, Rajiv Shekhar, and Sanjay Mittal for discussions and talks. (Subrahmanyam Saderla v. Chandra Shekhar Upadhyay: Criminal Appeal No. 460 of 2023 arising out of Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 3663 of 2020).

A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and JK Maheshwari was hearing an appeal filed by Subrahmanyam Saderla challenging the Allahabad High Court’s decision to quash the FIR lodged by him against his colleagues over alleged caste-based discrimination. Not inclined to interfere with the High Court’s decision, the bench disposed of the appeal, with the following observation.

“We feel that the continuation of criminal proceedings will be an impediment to restoration of normalcy and bringing cordiality back between the appellant and the respondents in their professional and personal capacities.

We, therefore, at this stage, are not inclined to continue with these proceedings and deem it appropriate to dispose of the same, with a recommendation to the chairman of the Board of Governors to invite the appellant and all the four respondents together and ensure that there are no pending misunderstandings or misgivings between them so as to guarantee professionalism and an ideal academic atmosphere in the institution.”

The bench, however, did comment, while disposing of the appeal, that the ‘unfortunate episode’ of the four senior professors allegedly “hurting the sentiments, prestige, and dignity” of the Dalit academician and criticising the originality of his doctoral thesis had compelled him to file a police complaint.

The conduct of the faculty members of a premier institute must be ‘exemplary’ and seen to be so by one and all as students follow in their footsteps. The court also observed that there was a solemn responsibility on not only the respondents but also the appellant to “ensure that none of their actions downgraded or demeaned the institution”, the bench said.

“The attribution of allegations and counter-allegations damages the reputation of individuals as well as the institution. We, therefore, impress upon them to ensure that they work together as a team in the best interests of the institution and their students, and do not allow any unfortunate and untoward incidents to occur which might hurt the sentiments, feelings, respect and dignity of each other”, the bench observed.

Incidentally, not only did the senior professors specifically deny their alleged direct or indirect role in connection with the doubts that were created regarding Saderla’s thesis or the social humiliation inflicted on him, but also pledged before the court “to never do any such thing, or make any comments, which may hurt the sentiments and feelings of the appellant in any manner” in future.

Saderla, who joined the institute’s aerospace engineering department on January 1, 2018, had filed a complaint with the administration soon after, accusing his colleagues, Chandra Shekhar Upadhyay, Ishan Sharma, Rajiv Shekhar, and Sanjay Mittal of caste-based discrimination and harassment. These charges were reportedly upheld by a three-member panel led by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, who then directed the IIT Kanpur administration to lodge a complaint against all four under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Thereafter, however, in the same year, the Allahabad High Court stayed the criminal action against them, stating, inter alia, that issuing such a direction was beyond the scope of the commission’s powers.

In the meantime, the institute formed an inquiry committee headed by a retired judge of the Allahabad High Court that found the Dalit academician’s allegations of harassment at the hands of his four colleagues to be true. Following this, the university board demoted Mittal, Upadhyay, and Shekhar, while Sharma was let off with a warning. Subsequently, on the strength of a first information report registered by Saderla, the four professors were also booked under Section 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 as well as the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe Act. However, in the same year, the high court allowed a writ petition filed by the accused and quashed the original FIR. Predictably, given the caste composition of institutes of higher learning, the rest of the faculty forum rallied behind the four professions and demanded that the institute defend them. “If anyone charges them under the SC/ST Act for carrying out their professional and official duties, it is the responsibility of the institute to defend them in any court or any other place,” the convenor of the forum wrote to the IIT Kanpur director.

In October 2022, the situation took another turn when an anonymous email was sent to several faculty members alleging that portions of his doctoral thesis were plagiarised. In spite of the fact that the academic ethics cell reportedly found no reason to revoke the thesis after investigating the complaint, the Senate Post-Graduate Committee recommended that the PhD thesis be withdrawn, and a revised version be re-evaluated, in a move that was widely criticised as indicating a vendetta against the young Dalit academician for the success of his complaint.

Finally, the matter was referred to a three-member committee which concluded that Saderla’s thesis referred to material that was ‘common knowledge’ in his field of study and recommended appending a brief corrigendum. The assistant professor accepted the suggestion and submitted a corrigendum, which was subsequently approved by the board. Putting an end to the controversy, the board resolved that his doctoral thesis on aerodynamic parameter estimation would be read along with the corrigendum and Saderla was awarded a doctorate degree.

The apex court bench noted, “There is no remaining doubt regarding the genuineness of the PhD thesis, and the degree that was awarded to the appellant. His dedication, hard work and deep research on the subject stand duly recognised.”

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Tamil Nadu: Dalit family in Thoothukudi allegedly denied use of road to crematorium

The post SC favours conciliation in case of caste based discrimination against Dalit faculty: IIT-Kanpur appeared first on SabrangIndia.

“Hum Dekhenge, Laazim Hai ki Hum Bhi Dekhenge” after these words by poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz became the new song of dissent starting with it resounding among the walls of IIT Kanpur, the administration of the University issued an inquiry alleging that the poem provoked “anti-Hindu” sentiments.

The poem was written by Faiz in 1979 chastising General Zia-ul-Haq recounting the Prophet’s conquest of Mecca. The complaint was filed by IIT Kanpur professor Vashi Mant Sharma and 16 others including teachers and students saying that some words of the poem could hurt the sentiments of Hindus.  

https://twitter.com/IITKanpur/status/1213136442534187008

In light of the recent reports in the media regarding a committee that has supposedly been constituted at IIT Kanpur to investigate whether a poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz is communal or not, the institute would like to issue the following clarification pic.twitter.com/HtQcd2YWUo

— IIT Kanpur (@IITKanpur) January 3, 2020

A committee was set up to probe the matter which alleged that after the poem was read, inflammatory social media posts were put up and IIT Kanpur Deputy Director Manindra Agrawal intervened to stop the unrest from being escalated. He had also clarified that the committee was not set up to look into the contents of the poem itself, but to address the complaints of violence and communally insensitive posts. “Both sides are our own students — we’re viewing this as an in-house issue and trying to understand both sides’ perspectives and hoping to calm things down,” Agrawal told The Telegraph.

The move to set up a committee was highly condemned by opinion makers, calling the same to be “ridiculous” and “shameful”.

https://twitter.com/IITKanpur/status/1213142234972844032

फैज़ अहमद फैज़ की कविता पाठ के बारे में संस्थान का बयान@agrawalmanindra @karandi65 @PIBHindi @PIBHRD @HRDMinistry pic.twitter.com/pi6J9xouOv

— IIT Kanpur (@IITKanpur) January 3, 2020

Today, The Telegraph reported that sections of the faculty have come out in support of the students’ right to “fearlessly express” their opinions. Members from multiple departments have written a letter urging the students to learn to voice their opinions in a manner that engages the community, even amid disagreements, underscoring the space for contrarian views in a democracy, the paper reported.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2805122029519904&id=100000664038694

Their letter read, “We as teachers would like to remind ourselves and our students, to whom we are primarily accountable, that the duties of a public-funded university in a democratic country include critically examining every issue, curricular and extra-curricular, that concerns the society we live in and also to be tolerant to contrarian views.”

Offering encouragement to the students, through their letter the faculty members said, ““We stand by your right to discuss, debate and dissent on issues that you feel are important and as teachers we will strive to create an atmosphere in our campus where you can fearlessly express your opinion in any form, responsibly and conscientiously.”

Agrawal who was aware of the letter, but not a signatory expressed his assent to the ideas mentioned in the letter, saying that it should never be the case that the students feel that their voices were getting suppressed. He said, “We would like our students to be responsible and introspect about damage that posting on social media can do. Social media posts have this potential to amplify distances between different points of view — that can make the atmosphere worse.”

Amid this rancour that was being spewed at a brilliant work of art, India Today reached out to Saleema Hashmi, Faiz’s daughter who resides in Pakistan asking for her view on the matter. She told the channel, “I must say I am having a good laugh over people who are making suggestions to a dead poet that he can make his vocabulary more secular’. Sorry guys, he can’t hear you! If you can rewrite the poem good luck to you!”

Mentioning that poetry and poets are friends of social movements Hashmi said, “Poem is an instrument of focussing the fervour and passion of young people – leading them towards an understanding of how they must move forward – very upsetting for the powerful who can sense the fragility of their position, once people’s energies are unleashed. Thus poets, writers, singers and indeed all creative people have been the natural enemies of dictators.”

Today, the core message of Hum Dekhenge has leapt above the walls of IIT Kanpur and spread through the corners of India to become a rallying cry that is set to reverberate through all protests and agitations for the freedom of the masses from oppression and injustice.

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Streets around Jamia coloured live with protest art
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