Tata Institute of Social Sciences suspends PhD student over activities not in national interest

Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has suspended a PhD students for two years for allegedly performing activities that were "not in the interest of the nation". Ramadas Prinisivanandan (30), who is pursuing his doctorate in Development Studies, has been banned from entering TISS campuses in Mumbai, Tuljapur, Hyderabad and Guwahati.

What happened?

A notice dated March 7, 2024was sent to Prinisivanandan that accused him of screening Anand Patwardhan's controversial documentary'Ram ke Naam' on January 26. The notice called it a "mark of dishonour and protest" against the Ram Mandir idol consecration in Ayodhya.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

The notice said that the name of researchinstitute was "misused" when Prinisivanandan participated in a protest in Delhi under the banner PSF-TISS. PSF stands for Progressive Student Forum.

The notice said that the protest created a wrong impression that the PSF had some association with the TISS.

Prinisivanandan has also been accused of screening a banned BBC documentary on the TISS campus in January last year and inviting "controversial guest speakers" while organising the Bhagat Singh Memorial Lecture.

"Your activities are not in the interest of the nation. Being a public institution, TISS cannot permit or tolerate its students indulging in such activities which are anti-national and bring a bad name to the nation. Hence, all such activities fall under the category of serious criminal offence," the March 7 notice read.

These issues are "very serious and it is discernible that you are intentionally and deliberately indulging in such unlawful activities in the name of freedom of speech and expression", it said.

Also watch |Did India's JNU ban student protests on campus? Here's what authorities said

A subsequent communication dated April 18 said the TISS's disciplinary committee had recommended his suspension for two years and that he would be banned from entering all campuses of the institute.

Prinisivanandan, who hails from Kerala, told Press Trust of India that he would appeal against the suspension before the institute's internal authority.

In a statement issued late Saturday, the TISS alleged that Prinisivanandan failed to comply with the institute's repeated verbal and written advisories to prioritise academic commitments.

"He continued to overstay unlawfully in his allotted hostel at the TISS, Mumbai campus, ignoring multiple reminders from the administration," it claimed.