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IIMC invokes Independence-era icons on campus

The 50-year-old institution operates under the aegis of ministry of information and broadcasting.

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The Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) is busy invoking Independence-era idols on its campus. The institution which is on a renaming overdrive is naming its buildings after Bal Gangadhar Tilak, BR Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi. This new development is an initiative of the BJP's newly appointed Director-General KG Suresh who has tried to find the journalist within these freedom fighters.

The 50-year-old institution operates under the aegis of ministry of information and broadcasting. So far the various buildings of this institution were recognised by the purpose they were set up for. The hostel blocks were knowns as hostel 1 and 2, the auditoriums as manch (stage) and teaching blocks, were all recognised by their generic names.

Comparing itself with Jahawarlal Nehru University (JNU), where both students and alumni identify themselves with hostels likes Brahmaputra, Mandakini and eateries like Ganga dhaba, Suresh said, "We realised that an institution as old as ours, lacked an identity with which the students could feel a sense of belonging. We want students to identify themselves with the institution," adds Suresh.

Even before JNU named its library block after Dr BR Ambedkar, IIMC had christened its boys hostel after the Dalit icon. In February this year, a Dalit student residing in the boys hostel had approached the National Commission of Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribes complaining about derogatory comments being made about him by non-Dalit students. After the issue was resolved, Suresh felt that naming the boys hostel after Ambedkar has given a sense of belonging not only to the marginalised community, but also the other boys residing in the hostel.

Being a media training institution, it has tried to identify these icons from their journalistic aspect. "All these people have contributed as journalists even during the freedom struggle. Tilak used Marathi newspaper Kesari as his tool, Mahatma Gandhi edited the Young India and Harijan and BR Ambedkar drafted the constitution of India and gave us the freedom of expression, a vehicle that journalists ride on," explains Suresh.

The auditorium and mini-auditorium have been named after Mahatma Gandhi and Tilak, the new teaching block is now known as Chanakya block and the girls hostel has been renamed after Naga freedom fighter Rani Gaidinuil, who was released from prison after Independence on the initiative of Nehru.

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