The Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai warned students not to hold protests on campus against the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22, The Indian Express reported.
The institute said in a notice on January 18 that law enforcement authorities will act against those who engage in such protests.
The newspaper quoted an unidentified official as saying that the intention was to “maintain a peaceful environment on campus of the academic institution”.
On the same day, the institute also issued another notice stating that events such as lectures and seminars have been suspended on campus, as guidelines on holding them will be reframed.
“In order to facilitate an inclusive participatory environment, all dialogues and debates on the campus, the competent authority has decided to reframe the existing guidelines for events, seminars, lectures series and screening of audio-visual materials among others,” the notice said. “Until then, all such activities and events are suspended.”
A student body named Fraternity TISS said that the notice was arbitrary as no protests had been announced against the consecration.
“The inauguration of the Ram Temple event serves as a public relations event for the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, the Yogi Adityanath government in UP, and various Hindutva militant groups,” the group said. “University authorities should not function as mouthpieces for government or Hindu nationalist public relations.”
Fraternity TISS said that the construction of the temple was a matter of concern as it was being built on the site of the demolished Babri Masjid. “The January 22 event is not just a temple inauguration but a ‘victory event’ symbolising an Islamophobic and violent anti-Muslim campaign,” it said.
At the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, a banner has been put up listing several events that will take place on the campus ahead of the consecration, The Times of India reported. These include a Shri Ram Darbar Shobhayatra, or procession, on Sunday and the live telecast of the ceremony on January 22.
Authorities said these were not official events, and that no permission was granted.
However, a student collective named the Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle said that the planned events showed that the institute had begun “crawling in front of Hindutva political forces” and giving up on secularism.
“We condemn the surrender of this institute in front of the right-wing political forces while on the other hand, it continues to suppress any activity by the independent student collectives,” the collective said.
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