New students’ union seeks meeting with TISS officials
Issue is showcause notices sent to protesting students
The newly elected students’ union of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has sought a meeting with the officials of the institute this week over showcause notices sent to students who participated in the months-long protest over the withdrawal of financial aid to students from marginalised groups.
Aa decision taken to approach the administration was taken at a general body meeting on August 4.
“Engagement is of priority right now, as the students are adversely affected. We will seek a meeting this week itself. The administration is yet to get back to us,” said Jit Hazarika, president of the students’ union.
He said that the union would demand that these notices be rescinded, and ask for a dialogue on the issue of aid to Government of India Post-Matric Scholarship (GOI-PMS) students.
Several students had commenced a protest against the withdrawal of financial aid to students belonging to socially disadvantaged groups like Schedules Castes and Schedules Tribes, among others. After the institute filed a suit in the civil court, it restricted the protests within a 100-m radius of the institute.
The institute had sent showcause notices to several students, asking them to explain their position. A disciplinary inquiry was also initiated against the students by an independent committee, and students eligible for a Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) were told that it had been withheld.
Since the committee was conducting its inquiry, the PhD registration of Fahad Ahmad was also stalled, which was communicated to him in a letter dated July 25. Ahmad is the former general secretary of the students’ union in 2017-18, and was one of those spearheading the protest.
“I have been denied registration because I was fighting for social justice. I didn’t quit when other student union members left. It’s easy to target a Muslim in the current scenario. I challenged the undeclared emergency in TISS and in our country. I and several other students are facing the brunt of participating in the protest as the administration has even stalled JRF forms for all of us,” Ahmad said.
