A group of protesters staged a demonstration outside the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Bombay) on Saturday. They wanted the arrest and dismissal of a professor. The professor allegedly glorified terrorism in a talk on the Palestinian freedom struggle.
The controversial talk
The protesters belonged to the Vivek Vichar Manch, a forum for rational thinking. They accused Professor Sharmistha Saha of the Humanities and Social Sciences department. She had invited a guest speaker, Sudhanva Deshpande, who allegedly praised a Palestinian terrorist. He also advocated armed rebellion against Israel.
The talk was part of an academic course called ‘HS 835 Performance Theory & Praxis’ on November 6. The course was open to students from different disciplines. The speakers shared their perspectives on various aspects of performance art and theatre.
The protesters claimed that Saha and Deshpande had spoken highly of Zakaria Zubeidi. He is allegedly part of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militant group. India and several other countries have designated it as a terrorist organisation. They said that Deshpande had even admitted to meeting Zubeidi in 2015. He had shown a video of him performing a play.
The protest and the demand
The protesters said that the talk was a blatant attempt to indoctrinate the students of IIT Bombay. They said that it had hateful and false narratives and promoted ideologies linked to terrorism. Therefore, they demanded a probe into the phone calls and emails of Saha and Deshpande. They wanted to find out their motive behind the talk. They also sought the removal of Saha from IIT Bombay and the cancellation of the course.
The protesters submitted a letter to the police on November 7. They requested them to take action against Saha and Deshpande. Protesters said that they had violated the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and the Indian Penal Code, 1860. They also said that they would approach the Ministry of Education and the University Grants Commission. They wanted them to take cognisance of the matter.
The IIT Bombay administration has not issued any official statement on the issue so far.
The debate on social media
The issue has sparked a debate on social media. Some users supported the protesters. Others defended the academic freedom of the professor and the guest speaker. Some users also questioned the credibility of the Vivek Vichar Manch and its agenda.
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