On Monday, April 4, a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Bombay,) Ahmed Abbasi Murtaza, a native of Gorakhpur, allegedly tried to barge into a temple in Gorakhnath.
The 20-year-old boy had a sharp weapon in his hand as seen from a video circulating on social media, with which (it seemed like) he attempted to attack 2 PAC personnel.
This act seems to have netizens all worked up and the student’s alma mater was made the punching bag.
Free press Journal spoke to the students to get their say on the subject. Students more or less have the same opinion on the happening.
Aryan Gupta, a Chemistry student from IIT-B, doesn't think that the incident defames his institute.
"His act, which seems to be motivated by religious fanaticism, has nothing to do with the fact that he is from IITB. The same applies to Sharjeel Imam, who was booked for sedition. Although it is a reflection of the fact that well-educated people, even from reputed institutions like us, may fall prey to fanaticism. Individuals, Institutions, and society must reflect upon it," he said.
Backed by a similar thought, Apurv Tiwari, studying Aerospace Engineering at IITB, feels that connecting the individual actions of a person to his or her institute doesn't make sense, especially in this case.
"If it would have been a case of academic fraud or using IIT Bombay's name for unethical personal gains, then the connection would make sense, but this incident was purely related to someone's personal disposition," he said.
Free Press Journal tried to reach out to the IIT Bombay officials, but there was no response.
While some students state that there is no reason to blame IIT Bombay for this happening, some are filled with embarrassment, which they expressed on Twitter.
A Twitterati with the username Gorakh22 tweeted asking whether he should drop the name 'IIT' from his Twitter profile. This tweet has got many several others continuing the Twitter thread, discussing whether the incident has the power to defame the institute or not.
