Days after suspending Ramadas Prini Sivanandan, a Dalit PhD student, for his activism on and outside the campus, the institute came out with its own model code of conduct (MCC) until the conclusion of the general elections.
By Meeta Bhatti
Mumbai: Student organisations at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) have voiced their opposition to a recent directive banning a wide range of ‘political’ activities on campus, calling it an attempt to stifle free speech.
Days after suspending Ramadas Prini Sivanandan, a Dalit PhD student, for his activism on and outside the campus, the institute came out with its own model code of conduct (MCC) until the conclusion of the general elections.
In a joint statement, six student organisations at TISS criticised the diktat issued “under the garb of MCC”. As per the statement, “It is important to mention that the MCC governs the conduct of political parties and candidates during the elections. Therefore, it cannot be just used to strip away the democratic rights of the students, who as citizens of the country have fundamental rights under the Indian Constitution to free speech and expression, assembly and association. While the MCC came into force with the announcement of elections on March 16, the TISS administration is using that as an excuse to put blanket curb on student activities on the campus after over a month,” reads the statement.
This story was originally published in freepressjournal.in. Read the full story here.