Ram temple: TISS warns students against holding protests, IITB plans gaushala opening

The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has asked students not to participate in any protest on its campus in Mumbai against the Ram temple consecration ceremony on 22 January, and warned them of action by law enforcement agencies in case of defiance. The student union of TISS denied that any protest is being organised.

A notice issued by TISS on 18 January said it had been brought to the notice of the administration that a few students were planning to organise protests in the old or new campus of the institute against the Ram Janmabhoomi pran pratistha (consecration) on 22 January.

"We strictly warn students not to participate in any such activities or demonstrations, failing which the law-enforcing agency will take necessary action against students found indulging in such activities," the notice said

In a statement issued on Saturday, the students union of TISS denied that any protest is being organised by any recognised or independent student body. It also demanded immediate withdrawal of the notice and clarification for issuing such notice.

Separately, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay will hold programmes such as the inauguration of a gaushala (cow shelter) and recitation of a poem based on the epic Ramayana, to mark the occasion. IITB will inaugurate the new gaushala on 22 January and also host a recitation of Geet Ramayan by Marathi poet G.D. Madgulkar on the campus.

This, however, has drawn criticism from the Ambedkar Phule Periyar Study Circle, a left-leaning students' organisation at IITB. "A line of events being carried out by the @iitbbombay administration shows it has started crawling in front of Hindutva political forces, giving up the principle of secularism in the Indian Constitution," APPSC IIT-B posted on X.