Date: 02/07/2021

TW: Mentions casteism in educational spaces

Vipin Pudiyath Veetil, a highly qualified former assistant professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT Madras, has resigned from the institution alleging that he faced caste-based discrimination since the time he joined, in 2019. 

Professor Veetil’s resignation email has been widely shared on social media. In his mail, he wrote, “The discrimination came from individuals in positions of power irrespective of their claimed political affiliations and gender,”. He said that this was the reason he was leaving to work at another institution.

In the mail, Veetil has made suggestions to the IIT Madras administration to address caste-based discrimination within the institute and make it a safer space. He has ended the email asking, “Societies progress one step at a time, or do they?”

Let’s ensure that we make progress as a society. We stand with professor Veetil and support his suggestions. Therefore, we demand:

• The setting up of a Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Class cell specifically to address grievances based on caste-based discrimination

• The constitution of a committee to study the experience of SC, ST and OBC faculty members, comprising representatives from SC, ST, and OBC communities, and psychologists.

ChintaBAR, a student organisation on campus has also alleged that IITs have often been in the news for being casteist institutes and have repeatedly violated reservation norms when it comes to admission to their PhD programmes.

Stop this vicious pattern of caste-based discrimination. Sign the petition, now!

Source:

IIT-Madras professor resigns, alleges caste discrimination - The Hindu