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Scores of Congress party-affiliated National Students Union of India workers on Friday held a protest outside Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani's official residence in New Delhi over IIT-Madras de-recognising a students' body for reportedly criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The protesters from Congress' students wing raised anti-government slogans and accused the HRD ministry of being behind the action against the body.
They also demanded that the action against the students' body be revoked. Some of the protesters were detained by police when they tried to break barricades.
A senior official of the Madras IIT said the action was taken as the students had "violated" defined guidelines of the institute.
As per reports, the student group 'Ambedkar Periyar Students Circle' was "de-recognised" following an allegation that it was instigating hatred against the Prime Minister.
The Left parties too strongly condemned the action, blaming the Sangh Parivar for carrying out "ferocious attacks" on freedom of expression, alternative views and democracy.
In separate statements, Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Communist Party of India demanded the restoration of the recognition to APSC and action against the IIT-M management for taking such an action.
Maintaining that APSC was "a recognised voluntary body of students" functioning on the IIT Madras campus, the CPI-M said the Dean of Students cancelled its recognition "for its criticism of the economic and social policies of the RSS and BJP" on the basis of "an anonymous letter sent by the Sangh Parivar".
CPI National Secretary D Raja termed the action as "atrocious and highly condemnable" and said while the IIT-M management "cannot curtail the students' rights to freedom of views and to be critical of the government, the HRD ministry should not have given such a direction on the basis of an anonymous letter".
Raja said it was "outrageous" that the names of Ambedkar and Periyar were not being allowed to be taken by the authorities. He said earlier too, he had raised an issue in Parliament relating to "discrimination against SCs and OBCs in matters relating to admission and appointment of faculty in IIT-M".
The CPI-M statement said during the last one year of the BJP-led government at the Centre, "Sangh Parivar organisations have been carrying out ferocious attacks on freedom of expression, alternative views and democracy.
"RSS-BJP and their associate organisations have been engaging in such actions as attacking media and journalists personally in a targeted manner, attacking television stations, threatening those who criticise the Sangh Parivar in the print media and on television, and trying to silence them and putting pressure on them to quit.
"It is in continuation of such actions that the IIT-M has cancelled the recognition given to APSC," it said and demanded immediate restoration of the recognition given to APSC and action against the Dean who cancelled it "without any inquiry and simply on the basis of Sangh Parivar organisations anonymous letter".
The CPI-M also urged all democratic movements, political parties and people to condemn "such uncivilised, anti-democratic and antediluvian actions."
The BJP, meanwhile, defended the decision of IIT-Madras to derecognise a students body and accused Congress of playing "low-level" politics on the issue to meet its own political ends and trying to divide the student community and create 'disorder'.
"The Congress party is frustrated after its repeated defeats and is unable to digest the achievements of the Narendra Modi government in the last one year. That is why it is doing such low-level politics. Congress has a pattern of creating disorder wherever there is order," BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said.
Alleging that the Congress was trying to divide students on the basis of religion and caste, Sharma warned the opposition party not to play politics with students as they are the future of the country.
The BJP leader said IIT-Madras is an autonomous body having its own rules and the authority to protect its rules if anyone breaks them. One should not have objections if it protects its rules taking the help of law, he added.
"In a bid to create a controversy, they are trying to divide even students on the basis of caste and religion. To churn out its own frustration, it should not play with the sentiments of students, who are the future of the country," Sharma said.
Taking a dig at Congress, Sharma said the opposition party is forgetting that this is just the beginning of the Modi government and their bad days have started.
The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras is at the centre of a controversy over derecognition of the students group, many of whose members are Dalits, following a complaint that it was critical of Prime Minister Modi.
A senior IIT-Madras official told reporters in Chennai that the APSC had "violated" defined guidelines of IIT-Madras.
Images: Police detain National Students Union of India activists during a protest outside the residence of HRD Minister Smriti Irani in New Delhi on Friday over the ban on an IIT-Madras students group for allegedly criticizing PM Narendra Modi. Photograph: Atul Yadav/PTI Photo