A poster inside TISS campus enlists the directions given by the Director on how they can discuss social issues within closed doors, instead of taking to the streets and protesting
Two days after the Director of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) warned students against 'disruptive forces' within and outside the campus, students have raised concerns over what they call as an attack on dissent through posters put up in the campus.
On Monday night, students from the institute put up posters outside the dining hall in the old campus of the institute condemning the stand taken by the administration. With #staysilent, the posters critique the letter which according to them hints at curbing all forms of dissent at the campus.
One of the posters lists several things that students said they would be allowed to do as per the suggestions laid down in the mail. The centre of the poster states "Shhh...not beyond classroom" and enlists ways in which students can discuss social issues within closed doors, without having to protest. "Write an essay on secularism, talk on freedom, presentation on casteism, term paper on fascism" reads the poster. Another one written with a bold black marker on white paper states "TISS admin murdabaad" with #staysilent and #tissmail.
Pasted on trees in the campus, students said that the posters were in response to the email sent by the Director on Sunday. The mail asked the students to be wary of disruptive forces, and dropped hints against getting involved in the ongoing confrontations at Delhi's Ramjas college.
While there was no clarity on who put up the posters, a few students said that there was nothing wrong in critiquing a decision that they alleged of being restrictive. "TISS has always been a politically-charged institute. Students of the institute have been part of several struggles across the country. This email is trying to curb that," said an Mphil scholar on the condition of anonymity.
Professor S Parasuraman, Director, TISS, said that while the institute does not quash students' freedom to talk or put up posters, they need to behave more responsibly. “All institutes have certain rules and regulations and so do we. We are not restricting our students in any way, but as an institute we are asking them to not put our reputation at stake,” he said.
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