I, Amitabh Thakur, an IIT Kanpur alumnus and UP IPS officer, have sent an email today to IIT Madras authorities requesting them to lift the ban on Ambedkar Periyar Student Circle. In the mail I have said that the ban is improper and unwarranted because it seems to come only due to a particular thought-process and ideology. I said that from my 4-year stay at IIT Kanpur, I can vouch for a definite presumed superiority in non-SC students vis-à-vis SC students and banning the group will only help inflame such feelings. About the alleged misuse of IIT name and symbols, I have said that IIT brand is so strong that every IIT student and group openly and shamelessly use these them and singling out a particular group is prima-facie discriminatory. Based on these facts, I have requested to lift the ban and set an exemplary example of tolerance.
पूर्व आईआईटीयन, आईपीएस द्वारा आईआईटी मद्रास बैन का विरोध
मुझ, अमिताभ ठाकुर, पूर्व आईआईटी कानपुर छात्र और यूपी आईपीएस, ने आज आईआईटी मद्रास के पदाधिकारियों को ईमेल द्वारा आंबेडकर पेरियार स्टूडेंट सर्किल पर लगाए प्रतिबन्ध को समाप्त करने का अनुरोध किया है. मेल में मैंने कहा कि यह प्रतिबन्ध अनुचित है क्योंकि यह मात्र एक ख़ास सोच के कारण लगाया गया दिखता है. मैंने कहा कि चार साल के आईआईटी प्रवास के आधार पर मैं निश्चित रूप से कह सकता हूँ कि यहाँ अन्य छात्र एससी छात्रों के प्रति एक अलग किस्म की दृष्टि रखते हैं और इस समूह को प्रतिबंधित करने से यह भावना और अधिक बलवती होगी. आईआईटी के नाम और ब्रांड के दुरुपयोग के विषय में मैंने कहा कि चूँकि आईआईटी ब्रांड इतना प्रभावी है कि प्रत्येक आईआईटी छात्र और समूह इसे बेशर्मी से इस्तेमाल करते हैं और मात्र एक समूह को इसके लिए दोषी बताना विभेदकारी होगा. इन तथ्यों के आधार पर मैंने प्रतिबन्ध को हटाते हुए सहिष्णुता का परिचय देने का अनुरोध किया है.
Amitabh Thakur
Lucknow
# 094155-34526
[email protected]
Copy of email—
Dear sir,
I am Amitabh Thakur, an IIT Kanpur pass-out (1989- Mechanical Engineering) presently serving as an IPS officer in UP (1992 batch) and I write this email to you as member of larger IIT fraternity and as a concerned citizen of this nation. It is about the ban on the Ambedkar Periyar Student Circle (APSC) at IIT Madras. I went through the facts available on Internet as regards the ban and have come to the definite conclusion that irrespective of all the political overtones and large uproar, the ban is not only improper and unwarranted but is also ill-advised.
Without going into the details of the controversy, I would only enumerate the reasons which make me say so-
1. From all the available records, the ban is only due to a particular thought-process and ideology of this group and any ban in an academic institution like IITM solely on ideological grounds is definitely improper and unwarranted
2. Though I personally might not agree with many of the ideological stand taken by these students but at the same time it easily emerges that they had certain ideological leanings which is in minority acceptance in the Institute but being minority does not make any ideology redundant or banned
3. The ideology that seems to apparently emerge is that of pro-lower caste leaning. From my stay at IITK for 4 years, I can vouch for it that there is a definite feeling of presumed superiority in non-SC students vis-à-vis SC students and hence if some group feels alienated and wants to express itself, banning such group is only going to help inflame such feelings
4. Even the grounds of misuse of emblems, name, insignia etc of IITM by this group does not seem to hold grounds because it is a well-known fact that brands like IITM, IITB, IITK, IITK etc are so strong that every student and/or every group in these institutions openly and shamelessly exhibit and use these emblems and brand-names at the drop of the hat and hence choosing a single ground and banning in on grounds of misuse of symbols etc seems to be prima-facie discriminatory
In short, the ban by a premier and respectable organization of a group which has slightly deviant or different ideology than the majority groups, seems improper. Since IITM is an autonomous body and it takes decisions on its own and never thinks twice before overturning its previous decision, if it proves to be fallacious and incorrect, hence my humble request is that now that it is established beyond any reasonable doubt that the decision to ban is incorrect, this decision be changed and ban lifted and an exemplary example of tolerance and large-heartedness be presented before the world, in tune with the established culture and ideology of the IITs.
Amitabh Thakur
Lucknow
094155-34526
[email protected]
