The Society Against Violence in Education (SAVE), an anti-ragging NGO, has condemned Birsa Institute of Technology (BIT) Sindri for what they call an "unprecedented and inhumane" decision to evict all first-year students from hostels following violent ragging incidents earlier this month.
The controversy erupted after a violent clash between senior and junior students on May 12, which continued into May 13, leaving dozens injured and campus property damaged. Videos circulating on social media show seniors attacking juniors with hockey sticks, rods, and bricks.
In one particularly disturbing incident, the parents of a first-year student who came to pick up their child had their vehicle, reportedly an expensive Thar SUV, vandalised by senior students.
According to eyewitness accounts as reported by various media reports, the attackers used chairs, sticks, and whatever they could find nearby during the assault.
Victims further victimised
In response to the violence, BIT Sindri administration ordered all first-year students to vacate their hostels, a decision that SAVE's Vice-President Gaurav Singhal described as a "Tughlaq-e-Farman" (referring to the arbitrary and illogical decrees of Muhammad bin Tughlaq, a 14th-century Delhi Sultan).
"If the second-year, third-year, and fourth-year students are attacking and the first-year students are the victims, how come this insane idea came to the minds of the authorities that not the seniors but the juniors should vacate?" Singhal told EdexLive in an exclusive interview.
Drawing a parallel, he added, "It's like a District Magistrate who is unable to stop communal violence asking all residents to vacate the city instead of containing the situation or resigning. This is sheer negligence, incompetence, and brutality by the college administration," he added.
Unprecedented action
SAVE claims the mass eviction of first-year students is without precedent in India's 75-year history of higher education.
"Never in the known history of ragging cases in India has any institution responded by punishing all junior students collectively," said Dr Kushal Banerjee, President of SAVE, in a press release. "This is not just administrative failure, it's a systemic collapse of institutional responsibility and empathy."
The organisation has formally written to the institute's leadership, with copies sent to the Prime Minister's Office, Union Education Minister, Governor and Chief Minister of Jharkhand, University Grants Commission (UGC), National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), All India Council For Technical Education (AICTE), and the Anti-Ragging Helpline.
Multiple students share anonymous complaints
According to Singhal, SAVE has been receiving numerous complaints from affected students, but most are unwilling to reveal their identities out of fear.
"The juniors are so frightened that they are continuously writing to us, sending photographs and videos, but they are not revealing their identity," Singhal explained. "Some juniors have filed FIRs against the seniors, but all the information we're getting is through anonymous complaint letters."
Demands for action
SAVE has issued several demands to BIT Sindri, including:
Immediate revocation of the eviction order
Public apology to affected students and families
Financial compensation of Rs 20,000 per affected student, to be deducted from the responsible officials' salaries
Immediate suspension or termination of the head of the institution
"The college administration is also one of the accused," Singhal asserted. "They knew everything after the attacks on May 12, but they were still unable to contain the seniors on May 13. This is criminal negligence about the safety and security of juniors."
SAVE is also planning to approach the Jharkhand High Court (HC) to take suo moto cognizance of what they describe as an "inhuman and unprecedented mass eviction" of first-year students.
BIT Sindri administration has reportedly stated they are "investigating the matter" but has not yet responded formally to SAVE's demands.
