On 7th January, 2020, a candlelight protest was organized at Rotunda as a display of solidarity with the victims of the recent wave of violence against student protesters on various campuses across India.
In the past few months, the news has been dominated by reports of protest marches all over the country, especially in premier educational institutions such as the IITs, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Jamia Millia Islamia, and Jadavpur University. The protesters have raised their voices over a series of controversial government policies while maintaining that dissent is an integral part of any democracy. On 5th January 2020, more than 50 masked people armed with rods, sticks, and acid attacked the campus of JNU and injured over 40 students and teachers. Professors who tried to intervene and protect the students, as well as ambulances carrying injured individuals, were attacked. Eyewitnesses stated that policemen within the campus did not intervene to stop the mob. These events shocked the entire nation and led to an upsurge of protests.
The protest organized at Rotunda was the brainchild of a group of PhD scholars aided by V. Balaji, the General Secretary of the Student Union (SU), with the permission of the Institute. It witnessed a turnout of almost 100 people, who raised placards with slogans condemning attacks on students and upholding freedom of speech in India. It was an apolitical, silent protest. The gathering was also attended by certain professors in their own capacity.
The English Press Club spoke to Ishan Mata, a research scholar, and Balaji for insight into the candlelight sit-in.
Ishan began by characterizing these protests as an integral part of our democracy. He described them as more than merely tokenistic, and that their significance lies in them being a form of solidarity with victims of violence. He was sure that if a large number of students from premier institutions raised their voices in unison against such condemnable incidents, they would have the power to deter future violence. Regarding the early January attack in JNU, he stated that the perpetrators clearly violated the norms of a functional democracy. His own view was that citizens cannot afford to ignore the happenings in the country; politics should not be abhorred, but be participated in in a healthy and non-violent manner. The sit-in on campus was purely apolitical—irrespective of political affiliations, people came out and condemned the attack on students on campuses. Ishaan believed that students in more institutions should participate and that members of the academia should raise their voices against perceived injustice. He ended by stating that engineers and academics are often viewed as purely career-oriented, but that they too have a role in building and protecting our society and country.
Balaji said that the candlelight protest was the idea of a group of PhD students, who did not know how to obtain the necessary permissions. As a result, he helped them organize it. It was not organized under the banner of the SU, but he assured the Institute that the sit-in would be strictly apolitical and would focus on the issue of violence in educational institutions. He also brought up the pressing issue of campus security. He was worried that if the security of college campuses were to fail, students would feel unsafe in their own hostels. He lamented that conditions had come to the point where the need of the hour was ensuring the safety of students on campuses. Balaji believed that people protest to exercise their right to freedom of speech and expression, and that that right must be protected. JNU provides a platform for students to freely express themselves, and he was glad that our Institute had also placed faith in our ability to peacefully exercise our freedom of speech. He concluded by stating how most importantly, the empathy shown across colleges in India for the victims of violence sent a strong message threats to the foundational pillars of our nation will not be tolerated.