TISS Mumbai Suspends Student for Protesting Against Govt, Posting on Facebook

The TISS administration has recently suspended a student, as per reports, it was due to their protests against the government. Ramadas Sivanadan, who is a Dalit PhD scholar at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Mumbai and a left student leader, has been handed a two-year suspension by the administration. The suspension came following his active participation in protests and his stance against the ruling regime.

Ramadas’s suspension has created an uproar in the student fraternity. He was also formerly the general secretary of the Progressive Students’ Forum (PSF) at TISS Mumbai.

A student Sabrang India spoke to narrated the arrival of the suspension letter. As per the student, the charges against Ramadas are for participation in a protest march at Jantar Mantar. Ramadas was a coordinator and speaker for the march titled Parliament March which was organised by Opposition leaders and the student coalition, United Students of India in January 2024. Additionally, he was also charged for making a Facebook post recommending people to watch Anand Patwardhan’s acclaimed documentary, Ram Ke Naam.

Sabrang India spoke to a student on ground who stated that the order has suspended the student and barred them from entering each of TISS’ campuses, located in Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Tuljapur, for two years.  The university has stated that these actions are not in the interest of the nation or the university. “It seems like TISS does not want to permit students to have personal opinions,” the student told Sabrang India.

The Progressive Students’ Forum, an organisation in TISS, released a statement on the suspension, and marked it as a grave threat against students, “If a student dares to express their opinion publically, they will be hunted down by the administration and labelled ‘anti-national’—especially if the student comes from a marginalised background—so much for an Institute that takes pride in its academic excellence and freedom.”

The statement also accuses the TISS administration of prioritising to take out such actions against anti-government protests, instead of improving the hostel conditions and other infrastructural facilities. It has termed this step as an “an open warning to all students of TISS against organising and calling out the anti-student policies of the administration.”

This is not the first time TISS has been criticised for curbing freedoms. In January 2024, students at TISS, Mumbai were troubled after they witnessed a bar on lectures, seminars, and other activities on campus, after a notice was issued by the institution in January where the TISS administration prohibited students from organising any events until additional guidelines are provided by the institute. According to the Free Press Journal, there were no such guidelines issued by the university even after two months of the order. TISS Mumbai had also barred all protests against the Ram Temple inauguration in Uttar Pradesh in January this year.