3 hrs ago
IIT Bombay Email Warned Students Against Caste Discrimination
IIT Bombay had rules asking students not to question classmates about information that might reveal their caste.
These rules included questions about entrance-exam ranks and scores.
Professor Suryanarayana Doolla sent the guidance to students in 2024.
Sahil Wakode’s family says he faced caste-based comments before he died by suicide.
They also say the professor had caught him using a phone during an examination.
Students have protested after his death.
The resurfaced email shows that the institute had warned against caste discrimination.
However, the email alone does not establish whether discrimination occurred in Wakode’s case.
A previous student’s death had also led to allegations of caste discrimination, while a police chargesheet cited other causes of distress.
Professor Suryanarayana Doolla circulated 2024 guidance warning students not to ask about JEE ranks, GATE scores or other details that could reveal caste.
The guidance said such questions could create conscious or subconscious bias and lead to discrimination.
Sahil Wakode’s parents allege he faced caste-based remarks before dying by suicide after an examination-hall mobile-phone incident.
IIT Bombay students have protested following Wakode’s death and the family’s allegations.
Earlier anti-discrimination guidance followed Darshan Solanki’s death, though a Mumbai Police chargesheet attributed his distress to academic performance and a dispute with a classmate.
- Who
- Sahil Wakode, his parents, Professor Suryanarayana Doolla, IIT Bombay, and protesting students.
- What
- A 2024 anti-discrimination email from Doolla has resurfaced amid allegations that Wakode faced caste-based discrimination.
- Where
- The events concern the IIT Bombay campus, including a hostel room and an examination hall.
- When
- The email was circulated in 2024; Wakode was found dead hours after an examination-hall incident on September 18, with the year not specified in the article.
- Why
- The email resurfaced after Wakode’s parents made caste-discrimination allegations and students protested following his death.
Wakode Family’s Allegations
Institute Guidance and Police Account
Whether caste discrimination affected Wakode
Wakode Family’s Allegations
Wakode’s parents allege that he faced caste-based discrimination and had complained about casteist remarks before his death.
Institute Guidance and Police Account
The resurfaced email demonstrates that IIT Bombay had formal guidance against caste-related questioning, but it does not itself confirm or refute the family’s allegations.
Interpretation of the earlier Solanki case
Wakode Family’s Allegations
Darshan Solanki’s parents had also alleged that he faced caste-based discrimination on campus.
Institute Guidance and Police Account
The Mumbai Police chargesheet stated that Solanki was distressed by poor academic performance and a dispute with a classmate.
Key facts
- Professor
- Suryanarayana Doolla, who was Dean of Student Affairs when the guidance was circulated.
- Guidance timing
- IIT Bombay issued the anti-discrimination guidelines in July 2023 and recirculated them in 2024.
- Guidance on questions
- Students, staff and faculty were told not to ask about JEE Advanced ranks, GATE scores, admission categories or other information that could reveal caste.
- Wakode allegation
- His parents allege that he complained about casteist remarks days before his death.
- Examination incident
- Doolla allegedly caught Wakode using a mobile phone inside an examination hall on September 18.
- Earlier case
- The guidelines followed Darshan Solanki’s death; a Mumbai Police chargesheet cited poor academic performance and a dispute with a classmate as sources of distress.
Quotes
IIT Bombay
The institute issuing anti-discrimination guidance to students, staff, and faculty.
“it is prohibited to exchange/forward any messages, including jokes, that are abusive, hateful, casteist, sexist, exhibit bigotry e.g., based on – religion or sexual orientation, can be construed as harassment or bullying.”
indianexpress.com
“It is equally inappropriate for any person (students/staff/faculty members) to ask other students about their JEE (Advanced) ranks/GATE scores, or any other information that may reveal the caste or other related aspects.”
indianexpress.com
Sources
Related news
IIT Bombay Student Death Prompts FIR, Crime Branch Probe
IIT Bombay Student Death Sparks Dispute Over Caste Abuse Claims
IIT Bombay Professor Suspended Amid Caste Discrimination Allegations
IIT Bombay Dean Removed as Wakode Suicide Probe Expands
IIT Bombay Student Death Sparks Probe and Politicisation Debate
IIT Bombay Protests Grow as Faculty Defends Professor Doolla
CCTV Footage Emerges in IIT Bombay Student Death Case
Youth Congress Protests IIT Bombay Over Student Death Claim
IIT Bombay Student Death Triggers Investigation, Protests and Conflicting Claims
IIT Bombay Forms Panel Amid Student Death Investigation
