The Centre-funded Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has sought an explanation from a faculty member for supporting a student protest against what they claim was the institute's consistent effort to deny them their rights on the campus.

The TISS Teachers' Association (TISSTA) has said that TISS's action will suppress dissenting voices on the campus, which is what an academic institution is supposed to promote.

TISS registrar Narendra Mishra issued a show-cause notice to Arjun Sengupta, an assistant professor at TISS, Hyderabad, after a video clip showing his participation in the students' protest was circulated.

Sengupta was participating in the protest by the Ambedkar Students Association, Progressive Students Organisation and the Progressive Students Forum. None of the student bodies, which organised the protests, was banned or illegal entities.

They were protesting the denial of permission to student group events such as guest talks on various issues, termination notices to contractual faculty members and the delay in conducting the student union elections.

"Whereas Dr Arjun Sengupta has been appointed to conduct teaching, research and field action research to motivate the students to do their best in academics and related knowledge-gaining exercise. In contrary to that he is seen promoting activities that have no connection with any task meant for a teacher," the show-cause notice said.

The notice said that Sengupta violated the institute's conduct rules and asked him to explain why disciplinary action should not be taken.

The TISSTA has stood with the faculty member, saying the body supports academic freedom and open dialogue on campus. TISSTA said it was surprised about the show-cause notice that has been issued "on the basis of an unverified video clip of less than a minute posted on social media". It said the clip of Sengupta’s longer speech had been taken out of context.

"TISSTA affirms its commitment to protecting academic freedom and promoting an environment conducive to open dialogue and discussions," the statement said.

TISSTA demanded the immediate retraction of the memo issued to Sengupta, reaffirmation of the institute’s commitment to academic freedom and the creation of spaces and processes for constructive dialogue among stakeholders.