Beef fest: IIT-M scholar attacked by right-wing students

Tension prevailed in IIT Madras on Tuesday following a brutal attack on a PhD Scholar, associated with Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle (APSC), by a group of right wing students for taking part in a 'beef fest' on the campus on May 28.

R Sooraj, a PhD scholar from the Department of Aerospace in IIT Madras, was seriously injured in his right eye in the assault and admitted to a private eye hospital. Sooraj was having lunch in the mess at around 2 pm when he was attacked by a group, allegedly led by Manish of Ocean Engineering Department.

According to students, Sooraj's right eye was severely injured and bleeding. "We have taken him to Sankara Netralaya in Nungambakkam for treatment," said the students adding Manish has a history of indiscipline and was reprimanded by the Dean (Students).

A group of over 60 students had on on Sunday evening organised a beef fest held at IIT Madras campus in protest against the Centre's notification banning the sale of cattle for slaughter. The attack on Sooraj follows threat to two other students for taking part in the beef fest.

Sooraj, who hails from Kerala, is a member of the core group of the APSC and actively takes part in all its programmes. An independent student body of IIT Madras, APSC shot to fame when it was derecognised by the Dean of Students following an anonymous complaint made to the HRD (Human Resources Development) Ministry in May 2015. After massive protest in support of the APSC, the IIT management was forced to lift the ban.

Swaminathan of APSC said his group has been organising discussions on various topics — from imposition of Hindi and Sanskrit to Uniform Civil Code. "The beef fest was not organised by us. It was an event held by various groups without any banner," he said, adding, "We are going to file a police complaint against the attack," he said.

IIT-M director Bhaskar Ramamurthi and Dean (Students) MS Sivakumar were not available for comments. Meanwhile, Revolutionary Students and Youth Front announced that it would lay siege to the IIT-M Campus on Wednesday in protest against the attack.