Several IIT Kharagpur students have posted on social media about the irony that the Union home minister Amit Shah can hold a rally in Kharagpur with thousands of people but their institute is wary of resuming in-person classes to avoid assembly.
The posts came on a day a section of students wrote to the institute’s director, V.K. Tewari, requesting that in-person classes be resumed.
The students boycotted Monday’s online classes to press their demand. “The students of the institute collectively decided to miss scheduled classes on Monday to protest the closure of the campus over the past one year and… lack of information and concrete plan for reopening of the campus from the administration,” says the letter.
A BTech student of the IIT has written on Facebook: “How come organizing rallies and gathering local crowd without masks and no social distancing by our Home minister is allowed but when it comes to the college reopening by following proper norms and regulations, the IIT Kharagpur administration maintains silence…. Who’s at fault here?”
The student posted his comment as part of a campaign #reopenIITKGP, being run on social media by a group of students.
The student has posted a picture of Shah perched on a vehicle with several others and travelling through supporters on Sunday. In the photograph, Shah, without any mask, is seen waving at supporters who also appear to be without masks and not following any distancing norms.
Union education minister Ramesh Nishank Pokhriyal, the Prime Minister’s Office, and IIT director Tewari were tagged in the post.
Another student has posted: “The education minister and the home minister are promoting gatherings for their electoral benefits but IIT would remain closed!!!! What is this. 1)Boycott classes collectively and encourage others, 2) Mass mail to the Authority, 3) Tag and mention kgp diro in social media 4) Support the trend #reopen IIT #Boycott Classes.”
He wrote that Pokhriyal was “live at 6:35pm” on his Facebook page, sharing visuals of Shah’s road show. Metro checked the Facebook page of Pokhriyal on Monday evening and found that he was “live at 6:35pm” on Sunday to share the visuals.
“When people can take part in rallies, why can’t we walk on the roads of our campus? When other IITs are calling back their students, why can’t we?” posted another student.
Only a handful of research scholars have been brought back to the IIT.
Director Tewari said on his Facebook page on Monday afternoon: “At present we have 400 research scholars on campus who were quarantined on campus. We have plans to bring back more students….By May-June, we are hoping to call back the final year undergraduate and postgraduate students so that they would be able to complete their lab classes. By July, we hope to recall 50-60% of the students with due consideration of the SoPs and quarantine…..I hope the students and their parents would review the gravity of the situation with patience.”
Repeated calls to him went unanswered. He did not respond to text messages either.
An IIT student who is from another state said: “He (Shah) is concerned about Hiran Chatterjee (the BJP candidate from Kharagpur Sadar). But what about us? What if some employees of IIT attended the road show and then came to the campus? Will they not spread the virus on the campus? They have all the restrictions in mind only for students.”
In the email sent to the director, the students have written: “As is well known to you we come from all over the country to study at such a prestigious college — many of us belong to remote areas of the country where the lack of Internet connection is an issue. Not only this, recent socio-political protest in various parts of the country has led to lack of Internet connection with the students. Despite the students complaining of their issues, the administration even did not try to respond to them.”
