New Delhi: Students protesting the death of an IIT Delhi student have rejected the administration’s allegation that protesters used “unsavoury, humiliating and threatening” slogans outside faculty residences.The protesters also denied entering the faculty residential area, saying their march briefly paused outside the gate before continuing towards the main entrance. They alleged that the administration’s response had instead included disproportionate police presence and surveillance.Responding to director Rangan Banerjee’s warning of disciplinary action, the students said their chants were peaceful appeals to professors to support their movement and had been limited to demands for institutional accountability, transparency and solidarity.The director Friday also sent a mail to all students. “Unfortunately the situation escalated significantly on the night of Thursday. On that night, from 10.30pm to 12.30am, a group of protestors extended their agitation into the campus residential zones, staging demonstrations directly in front of faculty housing and resorting to unsavoury, humiliating and threatening language in their slogans,” he said in the mail.The protest, which began on Aug 22, has continued despite the institute forming an inquiry committee. Students are demanding the resignation of the dean of students’ welfare, an independent probe into alleged institutional lapses, Rs 1-crore compensation for Kumar’s family and an assurance that no disciplinary action will be taken against protesters.In response to the director’s mail, students said the march was carefully conducted within the operational limits of the campus. They said hospital and medical facilities were kept clear so that patient care, emergency access and medical movement were not disrupted. They also maintained that the protest remained confined to the main transit roads and did not enter residential hostel premises, respecting students’ privacy and personal space.“The march was organised with sensitivity to safety and security, particularly around the faculty residences. The decision to avoid marching into the vicinity of Kailash and Himadri hostels was deliberate,” said a student.A student said the protesters’ chants were “an invitation to the faculty fraternity, made on the basis of the trust and relationship students share with their professors.” Another student said the slogans were “strictly about institutional accountability, transparency and community solidarity”, adding that there was “no ruckus or chaos, either materially or in spirit.”Students also disputed the suggestion that their slogans were threatening or confrontational. They said the chants were appeals for faculty members to publicly support the movement, including calls such as, “Come out, professors. Come and support us.”At the same time, protesters alleged that they were subjected to disproportionate surveillance and police deployment. They said audio-visual monitoring continued even as the demonstration remained peaceful, describing the level of police presence as excessive and inconsistent with the nature of the protest.
