The hunger strike comes days after the student’s parents, who are also on hunger strike at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan, were denied police permission to continue their protest on weekends. IIT Bombay students protesting for the last 15 days over the September 18 death of a second-year B.Tech student began a hunger strike at Justice Corner on Friday, demanding action from the institute and accountability from its administration.
The deceased student’s parents also continued their hunger strike on Wednesday, remaining firm on their demand for the arrest of Kedare and Doolla.
The parents’ advocate, Nikhil Kamble, said they would continue their hunger strike at Azad Maidan after getting permission from the police.
On Thursday, Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad wrote to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis seeking urgent government intervention into the student’s death. They also demanded that the institute withdraw its statement about the student’s conduct during the examination and that the inquiry be conducted by independent members, including SC/ST students, faculty members and external experts. She also demanded that the case be investigated on a fast-track basis.
The students continued their protest through the night and held discussions among themselves on issues affecting student life on campus and presented an 18-point charter of demands to the administration, including an independent, transparent investigation into the student’s death, changes to the inquiry committee appointed by the institute, the resignation of IIT-B director Shireesh Kedare, and the suspension of professor Suryanarayana Doolla, who has been accused of caste-based discrimination by the deceased student’s parents. During the 14 days of protest, students have also held discussions on mental health, student-teacher relationships, placement pressure, evaluation systems and dealing with loss on campus. Meanwhile, more than 20 Ambedkarite organisations from India and abroad, including the Ambedkar Association of North America (AANA), have criticised the handling of the death of the Dalit student and demanded an independent investigation into the case.
They said the protest has provided a space for students from different batches, departments and programmes to discuss issues affecting them. In a letter submitted to the IIT-B administration, the organisations said the institute should issue an apology to the parents and the SC/ST community over its initial statement following the student’s death, which included unverified allegations.
