'Anti-nationalism' will get you suspended, IIT-Bombay students told

A recent anti-CAA protest inside IIT Bombay

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay warned its students against participating in anti-national, anti-social or undesirable activities through an email. While authorities claimed that they are just reiterating hostel rules, the timing of the reminder has raised several eyebrows.

The email has raised questions over IIT Bombay trying to suppress the voice of those dissenting against the Centre over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

Students also alleged discrepancies in the rules saying there is no common code of conduct for all hostels which the institute referred to in the email. The email from the office of the Dean of Students Affairs (DoSA), Prof. George Mathew, on Tuesday, listed 15 regulations that students studying and living on campus have to follow.

The email includes rules such as, no distribution of posters or leaflets/pamphlets in the hostel without permission from hostel council or DoSA, no speeches/music disturbing the peace, no screening of pirated/unauthorised/unlicensed movies, and no anti-national, anti-social and or any other undesirable activities.

The email also listed rules on ragging, alcohol and tobacco consumption and visiting hours. It also warned students of suspension from the hostel for violating rules.
"It is important to find the origin of this regulation. As far as we know, every hostel has its own set of rules. None of them pertains to anti-national activities, movie screenings, speeches and other extra-curricular activities," said a student who lives on campus.

"The timing of this email raises questions. Initially, they reminded their staff of the regulations and now they are sending us reminders about regulations we did not know existed. It must be noted that this is happening when protests inside the campus against CAA are gaining momentum," said another student.

An IIT-Bombay spokesperson said, "These are not new rules. There were different set of guidelines like hostel rules, gymkhana rules. The DoSA office has just compiled all regulations together and sent it to students."

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