While Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle calls death of Darshan Solanki an ‘institutional murder’, IIT-B says initial proof says no such bias existed
Students and members of the Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle mourn the death of Darshan Solanki at IIT-B on Tuesday
Two days after a first-year B.Tech student committed suicide, the IIT-Bombay on Tuesday dismissed accusations of caste bias at the institute, stating that initial evidence from friends suggests there was no discrimination, and advised students to wait for police investigation and internal probe to complete before concluding anything.
On Sunday, a first-year student at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Bombay, died on campus, allegedly by suicide. Identified as Darshan Solanki, the 18-year-old hailed from Ahmedabad in Gujarat, and was pursuing B.Tech in Chemical Engineering. As per Mumbai police, he had joined the elite institute three-and-a-half months ago.
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‘Had complained earlier’
The Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle, (APPSC), a student collective at IIT Bombay, openly called Solanki’s death an ‘institutional murder’. The group posted a tweet late on Monday from its Twitter handle @AppscIITb, “We mourn the loss of an 18-year-old dalit student, Darshan Solanki, who joined IIT-Bombay 3 months back for his BTech. We must understand that this is not a personal/individualised issue, but an institutional murder. Despite our complaints, the institute did not care to make the space inclusive and safe for dalit bahujan adivasi students. First-year students face the most harassment in terms of anti-reservation sentiments and taunts of non-deserving and non-meritorious. There is a lack of representation of faculty and counsellors from the marginalised.”
However, on Tuesday, the IIT-Bombay administration issued a statement, rejecting the allegation. The statement read, “IIT-Bombay strongly refutes claims about the tragic death of a 1st year BTech student, which implies that the cause was discrimination, and says it amounted to “institutional murder”. It is wrong to make such accusations when the police are still investigating the case. Based on initial inputs from friends, there is no indication that the student faced any such discrimination. We would like to ask that these unfounded allegations not be spread. Please wait for the completion of the ongoing police investigation and an internal investigation by IIT, which will be done in a time-bound manner.”
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Clarifying that it has zero tolerance against any kind of discrimination, the IIT-B statement said, “Caste identity is never disclosed to anyone (whether students or faculty) once the admission is done. We sensitise students not to seek proxy information such as ranks in entrance exams. We give strong warnings against discrimination right from the time students enter IIT. While no steps can be 100% effective, discrimination by students, if at all it occurs, is an exception.
IIT-Bombay has an SC/ST student cell where students can reach in case of any issues including discrimination. There have been very few complaints to the cell, whether against faculty or other students, over the past many years, and only one case was found to have substance and strict action has been taken.” The administration also claimed that they encourage students to seek support from counsellors at their student wellness centre, or from our hospital, whenever they need it.
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