Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 23 : Former IIT-Bombay Board of Governors Chairman Sharad Kumar Saraf and IIT-Bombay alumnus Deepak Birewar F on Wednesday defended Professor Suryanarayana Doola amid demands for his arrest following the death of student Sahil Ravindra Wakode, while questioning calls for the professor's resignation and alleging that the institute was being targeted.
Speaking to ANI, Saraf alleged that the lawyer representing Sahil's parents has political affiliations and claimed that the lawyer was “stage managing” the developments. He said political affiliation itself was not wrong for a lawyer, but alleged that the lawyer's involvement was aimed at “destabilising” IIT-Bombay and, in turn, the country's education system.
“It looks like there is a deep state at work,” Saraf said, adding that such developments could affect the jobs of new alumni, the prestige of existing alumni and the quality of education.
He also said faculty could become demoralised and “scared to catch anybody, any cheater” if such incidents resulted in pressure on faculty members.
On the IIT Faculty Forum's support for Professor Doola, Saraf said the professor was “totally innocent” and claimed there was no evidence against him. He said Doola was an “upright” professor and had taken several initiatives for the well-being of students during his tenure as Dean of Student Affairs.
Saraf also questioned allegations of caste-based discrimination, saying there had been no discussion about the student's caste earlier and that the issue was raised by his parents two days after his death.
On demands for the immediate arrest of Professor Doola and IIT-Bombay Director Singh, Saraf said arrests should be based on a prima facie case, the possibility of evidence being tampered with or the need for custodial interrogation.
He said Professor Doola was available and had already been put on leave pending an inquiry, while being removed from the position of Dean of Administrative Affairs. “So, where is the question of his tampering with the evidence?” he asked.
Speaking to ANI, IIT-Bombay alumnus Deepak Birewar, meanwhile, said Sahil's death was an “extreme case of sorrow” for his family, but said he believed the student had attempted to copy during an examination and was caught according to institute rules.
He claimed that police had confirmed the examination incident through video camera footage and said there was “no doubt about it anymore”.
Birewar said people were engaging in “destructive things” by disrupting the lives of students at IIT-Bombay and attempting to target a professor without a proper inquiry.
“He is at least innocent till proven guilty, as per our Constitution,” Birewar said.
He also questioned demands for resignations of faculty members and said such pressure could have consequences for the future of students and higher education.
Referring to the debate around Professor Doola, Birewar said there was an apparent contradiction in demanding the resignation of an official for failing to catch cheating and then demanding another official's resignation for catching a student allegedly attempting to cheat.
Birewar described the situation as a “fire test for IIT” and said maintaining the standards of a premier institute was important even though difficult education could result in some students failing.
He said that if it was established that there was no casteism or discrimination at IIT-Bombay, he was confident that the institute's reputation would be enhanced rather than harmed.
Birewar also urged people to respect the grief of Sahil's parents and criticised what he described as attempts by people unrelated to the family to take advantage of their loss.
“If someone has made a mistake, he should be punished. But whether he has made a mistake or not, we don't know,” he said.
Sahil Wakode, a student from the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, died by suicide on Friday. In an earlier statement issued on September 19, IIT Bombay had alleged that the student was caught cheating in an examination. However, the institute issued a formal apology retracting its earlier characterisations of the incident. The father of the deceased student levelled serious allegations of harassment in the complaint, saying that the professor hurled casteist slurs at the student over the last three months.