IIT-M Cancels Venue Permission for Sunil Ilayidom’s Programme

Only a couple of days after it was chosen as one of the best institutes in the country, Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) has come into limelight for wrong reasons. On Wednesday, the administration cancelled a programme at the last minute in which eminent scholar and orator Sunil P Ilayidom was supposed to speak.

The programme was organised by the Malayali community in the campus under the banner of the Kerala Kala Samithi (KKS). Ilayidom was supposed to speak on the topic ‘Art, Culture, Politics: Possibilities for a Nava Keralam’.

The organisers were intimated of the cancellation of the venue at the last minute, after Ilayidom reached the campus, who had come all the way from Kerala. The e-mail from the administration cites no any reason for the cancellation.

A scholar, who is part of the KKS, told NewsClick on the condition of anonymity that the president of the Samithi, Dr. Sumesh P Thampi, who is also a faculty member in the campus, had got a call from the city police officials. They reportedly warned the faculty that the programme “could be a violation of code of conduct for the general elections and the whole responsibility of the programme would be on the IIT-M administration”. The administration swiftly washed their hands of any responsibility after which the programme had to be cancelled. It is still unclear how the police got to know about an in-campus academic programme, and how it would be a violation of the code of conduct.

When asked about this police intervention, Mr. Thampi said, “No comments”. He also said that it is an internal matter and it will be dealt with internally. When approached, the secretary of KKS, Justin, talked about his reservations against the administration. “We think that the administration is behind this. There is no other way the police would get to know about the programme.”

Meanwhile, NewsClick has got access to an email sent to the KKS, in which a person named Ram has accused Ilayidom of delivering communally divisive speech. He has even alleged that Ilayidom earned his doctorate through political influence, and has asked the KKS to reconsider conducting this programme.

Interestingly, Ilayidom is known for his talks on interpretations of Mahabharata and his speeches on Kerala renaissance in the time of Sabarimala issue were very popular. This had also made him a target of the right-wing organisations, and he has been facing threats from them ever since.

Meanwhile, KKS is trying to get an explanation from the administration about the whole affair, said Justin.

The Brahmanical institution

IIT-M is known for its pro-RSS and Brahmanical leanings. In a recent instance, a students’ mess in the campus had tried to segregate vegetarians and non-vegetarians by putting up a circular. This had met with severe opposition from across the academic and political spectra in the country. The mess authority then was forced to withdraw the notice.

Though the administration washed their hands of any responsibility, it is alleged it had backed the circular. In another incident, a doctoral scholar named Sooraj nearly lost his eyesight after he was thrashed by a right-wing student leader in the campus. He was attacked because of his participation in a beef festival which was organised to protest against the mob violence in the country.

Also read: IIT-Madras, a Modern Day Agraharam?