Hyderabad: The central executive committee of the Students Federation of India (SFI) has ridiculed the recent decision of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to ban the Progressive Students’ Forum (PSF). The federation said that the move was an undemocratic attempt to stifle student activism and suppress voices that raised critical and relevant issues.
The TISS administration had labelled PSF as an “unauthorised and illegal forum,” whose activities were ‘disrupting the institute's functioning’, while also ‘creating divisions among students and the faculty’.
“The decision to ban PSF is nothing short of an authoritarian attempt to silence the voices of students who dare to question the status quo. This is a direct attack on the democratic rights of students, particularly those from the marginalised communities,” said SFI president V.P. Sanu.
The decision to ban PSF comes in the wake of the suspension of Ramadas Prini Sivanandan, a dalit PhD scholar and a former general secretary of PSF, in April. Sivanandan was suspended for two years for joining the protests against the National Education Policy (NEP) and other actions deemed “anti-national” by TISS. The institute charged that he had misused institutional resources to serve political interests and for having overstayed in the hostel, thereby depriving other students of accommodation.
SFI general secretary Mayukh Biswas said “Sivanandan’s suspension and the ban on PSF are part of a broader agenda to curb any form of dissent against the government's policies. We demand immediate revocation of these draconian measures.”
Meanwhile, the actions of TISS have sparked a debate about the role of student organisations within academic institutions and the boundaries of political expression on campus. While the administration maintains that the ban on PSF is necessary to maintain decorum and orderliness within the campus, SFI and other student groups argue that it represents an unjustified crackdown on their rights and academic freedom.
The SFI has urged students and all democratic-minded citizens to unite against the administration’s ‘authoritarian approach’ at the behest of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
“Such actions are a serious threat to the autonomy of educational institutions. We will not be silent spectators. It is a dangerous precedent that is being set in by TISS,” added Biswas.
Various student organisations are rallying behind PSF and Sivanandan.
