Mumbai: Ramadas Prini Sivanandan, the Dalit research scholar at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) suspended for his political activism, has moved the Bombay High Court (HC) against his ouster.
In his petition, the PhD student claimed that he was targetted by the premier institute on the basis of "false, mala fide and concocted narrative". He also alleged that the institute made false allegations against him, to punish him for his identity and his political and ideological inclinations.
The petition contends that the suspension notice issued to Ramdas violates the fundamental rights of freedom of speech and expression, assembly and association guaranteed in the country's constitution.
Ramadas, who has been pursuing doctorate in development studies at TISS since 2017, was last month suspended for two years and banned from entering any TISS campus by the administration after being served a show cause notice from the Registrar's office in March.
The institute accused the scholar of violating its discipline codes, engaging in 'anti-national' activities and for his 'history' fo organising unauthorised events. The institute, in particular, cited his participation and 'misuse' of TISS's name at a protest rally in Delhi, urging students to participate in a screening of 'Ram ke Naam' documentary about demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya and the screening of BBC's documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Ramdas has, however, denied all charges against him. He clarified that the the Delhi was attended by various students, hailing from different student organizations and universities, and that it was conducted in a peaceful manner.
The Petitioner attended the same in furtherance of his fundamental right of participating in lawful assemblies, and attending a demonstration, which in no way can be categorised as a criminal or an anti-national activity," reads the petition.
Ramdas also denied asked students to participate in Raam ke Naam screening, clarifying that he had simply urged his social media followers to watch the documentary available on the internet. He also denied screening the BBC documentary.
"Students, invariably, are key constituents of social and political change, and their university life cannot be divorced from the politics of the country at large... despite the same, the petitioner has been at the receiving end of harassment from [TISS] due to his engagement in student activities. [TISS] has made active efforts to victimise the Petitioner for his involvement in legitimate student activities," reads the petition.
