Stories
IIT Delhi Professor's Viral Post on Caste Discrimination Sparks Debate After IIT Bombay Student's Death
- •An IIT Delhi professor's comments on caste discrimination in India's premier engineering institutions went viral following an IIT Bombay student's death.
- •Pravesh Biyani, with over two decades in the IIT/IIIT system, stated he never witnessed a teacher discriminate based on caste.
- •Biyani claimed caste was rarely discussed among students and never influenced his interactions with SC/ST friends.
- •As a professor, Biyani noted faculty focus on academics, often unaware of students' caste identities.
- •His remarks, suggesting social media creates a 'manufactured grievance' around caste discrimination, drew both support and criticism online.
Key Questions Answered
Pravesh Biyani shared that across his 22 years in the IIT and IIIT systems as a student and professor, he has never once witnessed a teacher discriminate against a student based on caste. He also described caste discussions as rare during his student days and argued that social media has created a manufactured grievance around the issue.
Professor Suryanarayana Doolla was invigilating an exam when he caught a second-year student, Sahil Wakode, using a smartphone without authorization to upload a question paper to ChatGPT. After the student's tragic death by suicide, his family alleged caste-based harassment and named Professor Doolla in a police complaint, leading to protests and the professor's eventual suspension.
The IIT Bombay Faculty Forum expressed strong solidarity with Professor Suryanarayana Doolla, stating that he was properly discharging his academic duties and following institute-approved Senate policies when he reported the unauthorized smartphone use. The forum also voiced deep distress over the tarnishing of the professor's reputation during the ongoing controversy.
