The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai has suspended a PhD student for two years for allegedly indulging in activities that were "not in the interest of the nation", and referred to instances like his participating in a protest in Delhi under the PSF-TISS banner. Ramadas Prini Sivanandan (30), who is pursuing his doctorate in Development Studies, has also been barred from entering the TISS campuses in Mumbai, Tuljapur, Hyderabad and Guwahati. Ramadas speaks exclusively to The Week.
Tata Institute of Social Sciences suspended you and has debarred you for two years. Do you fear any further action from the institution? How will this situation affect your academic life?
Mine was an integrated PhD. For the MPhil, I had taken an extension. Now I am doing a PhD. I enrolled for it in 2021. So, two-year debarring would mean that (I will be forced to) drop it. I am an awardee of the National Fellowship for Scheduled Caste (NFSC) students. So definitely, that will also be stopped. If there is no funding, then you can't continue (education).
Do you believe that institutions like TISS are getting depoliticised systematically?
See, we can see a pattern across Indian universities, especially after 2014, when the BJP government came to power. There is a systematic destruction of higher education. And that change, we can clearly feel. You go see what is happening across the country in different universities—the crackdown of dissent, the crackdown of the student movement is happening. It is not something happening out of the blue. And right now, if you look at TISS, it is no more a private university. It is completely under the ministry of education. Now you can read between the lines, or you can understand that. When I am being targeted, it is not about an individual's issue. (I have been) part of a movement, which was criticiaing the Narendra Modi government and its education policies.
On March 7, you received a notice in which it was stated that you misused the institution's name by participating in a Parliament march under the banner of PSF-TISS. According to that notice, the institution took a stance that it is not a recognised organisation in TISS. And you violated the moral code of conduct demanded by the institution. What do you have to say about that? Is this PSF a recognised organisation inside TISS?
I am a former general secretary of PSF (Progressive Student's Forum) which is a student organisation functioning within TISS for the last 12 years. This is an organisation that started after informing the then-director and the student affairs dean. And under the banner of PSF, we have been officially organising things on campus. If an institute can allow a student organisation, and give permission to do things officially, (how does it become unrecognised) all of a sudden? Only change is that the institution is now taken over by the Union government led by the BJP.
Secondly, whether we have “misused” the name of TISS or not. The institute asked me to explain it on March 7. I duly replied. I can confirm that I have attended a Parliament march. I was one of the speakers. There is nothing to hide about that. But what is the capacity in which I attended it? Yes, I am a student of TISS. But that is not the only identity that I am holding. I am a citizen of this country. I do have equal constitutional rights as everyone else in this country. Not only me, all other students who have joined the march. So, all of them belong to some other university. Everyone has the right to attend there. And this was a programme conducted at a place allotted by the Delhi Police—a law enforcing agency of the land. So, if the Delhi Police has no problem, if they are allotting it time, there is nothing unusual taking place. A peaceful gathering and a public meeting taking place, what is wrong with it?
So it must be the content we were talking about [at that march]. We were criticising the Union government led by BJP. There were 16 student organisations. We criticised the Modi government, their education policies. In fact, we were demanding education for all. I truly believe demanding education for all is very much in the interest of the nation and a truly patriotic activity. So I informed the institute that I have attended the march in the capacity of being a central executive committee member of SFI, a PSF member as well as a citizen of the country.
And whether we have used TISS's name there or not, or pretended that we are officially representing TISS or not. No, we didn't represent TISS. In every campus in the country, student organisations use the name of the university along with their name to communicate the constituency in which they are working in. So, when PSF works in TISS, it will be PSF-TISS. Not only PSF, there are seven other organisations also doing the same. So, it should not be a problem when one organisation or one individual within an organisation is using it. One of the organisations which is using TISS's name along with their name is DSSF, which is an ABVP-affiliated organisation. If they can be use it, there shouldn't be a problem when PSF uses them.
The allegation is we have “misused” it in the Parliament march. There is an official pamphlet jointly undersigned and released by all organisations in which there is no mention of TISS. It was only PSF.
You can note that, in none of the official releases, pamphlets, notices, flexes, banners, posters of the march, nowhere TISS was mentioned. Not even a single time. Not only on these releases or printed materials, nowhere in the speeches, people said they come from a particular university or, represented a particular university.
You are a central executive committee member of SFI, and the joint secretary of Maharashtra state unit of the forum. Is your organisation planning for some kind of protest on your suspension?
Yes, definitely. So this act has come based on my student activism, or I being part of the organisation, nothing else in it. So we all are taking it very seriously and collectively. And without any appeal, you could see that across universities, students are coming out in solidarity. It is coming from the understanding of the comrades in SFI.
Do you think that your caste identity also played a role in the action against you?
You may read that. I can tell you this one. Who are the people being targeted? That is also very much important. So that is to set an example and to communicate to the other students coming, especially from the marginalised sectors. When Sangh Parivar did mob lynching, they shot it and circulated it to communicate. It is like that, students across India, across universities are targeted. This is to send a message. In the first question you asked regarding the fellowship part a( drop the course and) go back, no? So basically, people think that they can target (students coming from marginalised sections) easily.
The institute, in its March 7 show-cause notice, had raised objections to some of your social media posts in January. Allegations have been levelled against you that you called upon students to join the screening of the documentary Raam Ke Naam on January 26, calling it a “protest against the Ram Mandir inauguration in Ayodhya”.
Raam Ke Nam is a National Award-winning investigative documentary, which is publicly available till date. It is also a documentary telecasted by the national television, Doordarshan. Not only that, it is also a documentary that has been screened in TISS officially multiple times. I watched this documentary in TISS on December 17, 2016. I watched it when the screening was organised by a student organisation. It was screened during an official fest. If you talk to some alumni, they will confirm that it has been screened in their classrooms. See, I just made an appeal in Malayalam to watch the documentary. And also, there is one allegation that I wish to clarify. Social media messages are circulating which say that I was inviting and bringing people to some screening that was supposed to take place on January 26. It is completely untrue. I was met with a road accident and was hospitalised at that time. And I was not in the capacity to organise any programme. As per my knowledge, there was no screening on that day. Secondly, I never appealed to people to join a screening which never took place. But on 22nd, I posted on social media to watch Ram Ke Naam. It has nothing to do with the allegation. I appealed to people to watch the documentary—which I think is an important, responsible work I did, and I stand by that. I was appealing to people to watch this important historic media project at this historic juncture. We don't know how long it will be available in the public domain. I said that and I stand by that.
