IIT didn't give us a hearing, says APSC

Chennai: Members of the Ambedkar-Periyar Study Circle (APSC), de-recognized by the IIT- M management for not adhering to the guidelines, say the institute failed to seek clarification from them before taking the decision. “We received an email communication from the Dean of Student Affairs that arbitrarily de-recognized our independently run student group. Subsequently, when two of us met with the management, we were told to give it in writing that we would stop deliberating on controversial topics and refrain from criticising the Central Government unnecessarily. We refused to do so,” said Akhil, a fourth year student from Kerala. The study circle, when launched on April 14 last year (coinciding with Ambedkar Jayanti), sought to propagate the political thoughts of Ambedkar and Tamil social activist Periyar. “Essentially, it was to espouse their teachings that is primarily based around anti-caste and anti-communal basis,” said Kabir* (name changed on request), a fourth year B.Tech computer science student. Incidentally, the group endured a tough start as the institute’s administration opposed its nomenclature. “The administration felt these two personalities were highly politicised entities and that we had to distance ourselves from anything reportedly political in nature,” Kabir explained.