On the eve of Republic Day, students of IIT Bombay joined by faculty members took out a Tiranga Yatra condemning the politicisation of campuses, mostly by the Left students. More than 1500 student’s of IIT Bombay participated in the march holding the 1,000 feet Tricolour from the convocation hall covering each and every hostel. While the students and faculty members of IIT Bombay congregated to condemn politicisation and celebrate Republic Day, the Left students, spearheaded by the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle were busy painting posters in support of the mastermind of Shaheen Bagh protests, Sharjeel Imam, who had called for the breaking up of India.
A Facebook page called ‘IIT Bombay for Justice’ uploaded a picture of “students” getting ready to celebrate an event called ‘Reclaim the Republic’. The event and the Facebook page is run by Left students who mostly belong to a group called Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle, we have learnt. The event ‘Reclaim the Republic’ was also attended by ‘comedian’ Varun Grover, who has written a propaganda poem called ‘Hum Kagaz Nahi Dikhayenge’ in opposition to NRC and CAA.
OpIndia has learnt that ‘IITB4Justice’ is a group which is spearheaded by APSCC. During the preparation of this rally by the Left students on campus, the Facebook page of this group uploaded pictures of students painting posters for the event.
As one can see from the snapshot, the poster which has been circled in red reads ‘Support Sharjeel Imam’. Sharjeel Imam is the mastermind of the Shaheen Bagh protest who had been caught on video talking about the breaking up of the country.
Sharjeel Imam has now been booked by various states for his seditious statements including Assam, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
Sharjeel Imam has been at the forefront of the anti-CAA protests from the very beginning. In a video that had gone viral on social media by the 17th of December, he could be seen inciting Muslims to do ‘Chakkajam’ in Delhi and wherever they have sufficient numbers. He called for Muslims to bring entire cities to a halt. “There are over 30% urban Muslims in UP. Do you have no shame at all? Why cannot you do Chakkajam in UP? The area in Bihar where I am from, the rural Muslim population is 6% while the urban Muslim population is 24%. Indian Muslims mostly live in cities. So it is upon you. You can bring your cities to a halt. If anyone asks you not to, disown them” he was heard saying in the viral video.
On Saturday, another video had gone viral on social media where he had asked Muslims of the country to break India by cutting of North-east from the rest of the country. “Our main aim is to permanently cut Assam and North-east India from rest of India,” he could be heard saying in the video.
Interestingly, while the Tiranga March by the students and faculty members of IIT B saw a massive turnout of over with students carrying a 1000 feet Tirange, the Left students’ event hardly saw any engagement.
Another interesting poster that emerged from IIT-B by the Left students was a poster that called for the release of ‘Taha Alan’.
Alan Suhaib and Taha Fasal were two Communist party members who have been booked by UAPA for their links with Maoists.
This poster, coupled with the one where it calls for solidarity with Sharjeel Imam, who had called for the breaking up of India only proves that the Left organisations even in prestigious institutes like the IIT are trying to foment problem and politicise the campus for their petty political gains.
On the other hand, even faculty members have condemned this politicisation during the Tiranga March. “IIT Bombay is an institution which is known for excellence in research, not politics. It’s hampering our research. We condemn it. Today what is more important is to celebrate Republic Day and we are here for that,” said Professor Ashutosh Kumar.
IIT Bombay faculty Prof Varadraj Bapat Som condemned the politicisation of educational campuses and said this (IIT-Bombay) campus is not for politics and to serve someone’s political propaganda.