IIIT-Hyderabad Warns 8 Students Over Umar Khalid Documentary Screening

New Delhi: The International Institute of Information Technology-Hyderabad has issued "disciplinary warnings" to eight students associated with an independent campus platform that sought to initiate conversations on caste, merit and politics, saying the group was not authorised by the institute.

The undergraduates are associated with 'No Tyrants, No Silence' (NTNS), a platform that had proposed the screening of a documentary on jailed activist Umar Khalid on the campus on September 18, drawing objections from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). The screening was subsequently cancelled.

The group has held discussions on campus decision-making, caste and political participation and sought to question what it sees as political disengagement among students at technology institutions.

The "notice of immediate compliance and disciplinary warnings", signed by IIIT-Hyderabad Registrar Prof K S Rajan, were issued on September 18.

Calls and messages to Prof Rajan seeking a response on the issue went unanswered.

One such notice, seen by PTI, accused the students of operating "unauthorised social media handles, online pages, and a website" under NTNS that prominently featured the IIIT-Hyderabad name. It also accused them of publishing minutes of internal meetings which the institute said were "strictly confidential and intended solely for internal governance".

The institute said NTNS was "not an approved or recognized body under IIIT- Hyderabad".

"The unauthorized use of the institute's name and brand, and the publication of confidential internal meeting minutes constitute a severe breach of institute policies, student conduct, and confidentiality guidelines," the notice said.

The students were given four hours to take down the social media handles, websites and other content where IIIT-Hyderabad was mentioned or internal meeting minutes were purportedly published.

The notice warned that failure to comply by 8.30 pm on September 18 would lead to "immediate initiation of disciplinary proceedings" and said the action could extend to "rustication from the institute".

It is learnt that some of the students, responding to the notice in their personal capacity, questioned the basis for the action and asked the institute to specify the rules that barred students from running independent groups, publishing their writings or identifying themselves as students of IIIT-Hyderabad.

They also disputed the institute's description of material published by NTNS as confidential internal meeting minutes, saying the meeting in question had been open to all and participants had not been told that its proceedings were confidential.

NTNS had been active on the campus before the controversy over the Khalid documentary.

In March, it organised a discussion titled 'Who Does Your Silence Protect?', specifically inviting students who believed they were at the institute "to study, not do politics".

The invitation referred to disputes over mess policy and disciplinary processes at the institute and argued that the habit of accepting decisions without demanding a say "doesn't stay on campus, it graduates with us".

A document circulated by NTNS under the same title also focused on caste and the institute's admission system. It noted that IIIT-Hyderabad does not have caste-based reservation and argued that caste and class advantages accumulated over generations could influence who eventually makes it through an ostensibly merit-based selection process.

The document argued that academic performance cannot be viewed in isolation from factors such as schooling, household income, caste and access to preparation, as part of a wider examination of what the group describes as the production of the "apolitical engineer".

The group has also organised discussions on the political and social implications of technical work and the role of engineers in wider society.

NTNS had also invited All India Students' Association national president Neha Bora for an interaction with students as part of its efforts to bring political and social questions into campus conversations.

Earlier, on September 17, the CBFC had said public screening of a documentary that had not been certified by it would violate the Cinematograph Act unless a specific exemption had been obtained, referring to the proposed screening of "Prisoner No. 626710 is Present", directed by filmmaker Lalit Vachani.

Tagging IIIT-Hyderabad, it said the institute authorities "may take note for necessary action".

IIIT-Hyderabad subsequently distanced itself from the proposed screening, saying neither the institute nor any of its recognised student clubs, cells or organisations had organised or hosted it. It said established procedures governed official campus events and that any unauthorised activity should not be attributed to the institute or its recognised student bodies.