84 groups seek IIT-B director’s resignation over Wakode’s death

"The series of events which has unfolded following the unfortunate demise of your student Sahil Wakode has revealed the IIT Bombay administration to be spectacularly callous at best or maliciously repressive towards complaints of caste discrimination," said the letter.

Seeking his resignation over how the institute handled Dalit student Sahil Wakode’s death, 84 organisations have written an open letter to IIT Bombay Director Prof. Shireesh Kedare.

Maktoob Media, in a report on Sunday, October 25, quoted the letter as saying, “The series of events which has unfolded following the unfortunate demise of your student Sahil Wakode has revealed the IIT Bombay administration to be spectacularly callous at best or maliciously repressive towards complaints of caste discrimination.”

It also pointed out that the institute had issued a press statement within hours of Wakode’s death, saying he was caught cheating at an exam, hence defaming him. It added that since this happened so soon after his death, there couldn’t have been an enquiry into what caused the student’s death.

It said it was unaware of any other such statement from the institute in which it had shared that a student was caught cheating. “Hence, it begs the question as to what motivated the institute to take such drastic and extraordinary measures in this matter,” it said.

Wondering aloud if the current administration was the worst in the institute’s history or if it had fuelled a media campaign against Wakode, “You are responsible, and you must be held accountable,” the letter said to the Director.

‘Institute supported a Dean accused of casteism’

The letter said that once Wakode’s parents filed a complaint against Dean Suryanarayana Doolla, the institute announced its solidarity with him. The president of the IIT Bombay faculty forum also spoke to the media, which, the letter said, must have been approved by the institute. Thus, the institute launched a campaign in support of a dean accused of casteism to prejudice public opinion even as the issue is being probed.

“How can any student facing casteism at your institute ever raise a complaint without fearing these same consequences?” the signatories asked.

Selective release of CCTV footage

CCTV footage from the IIT Bombay examination hall was released to the media, the letter said. However, the following interaction between Wakode and Dean Doolla remains confidential, and no action has been taken against anyone for the leak of CCTV footage from the exam hall. “This makes you complicit in the smear campaign against your student,” the letter said.

The signatories also held the director responsible for the recent police action against students. “With this you have revealed a terrifying blueprint of how concerns about casteism will be addressed by IIT Bombay,” it said.

They asked Prof. Kedare not to become “a mascot of repression and casteism”, urging him to take accountability for “this entire debacle of administrative failures” and resign.

Among the signatories are the Ambedkar Students’ Association, the Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association (JNU), the Bahujan Students’ Federation of India, the Bhim Army Students’ Federation (Delhi), the Dalit Students’ Union (UoH), the Students’ Islamic Organisation, the Students’ Federation of India (Mumbai), and the All India Students’ Association.