Mumbai: Students and activists from various educational institutions and organisations in the city on Wednesday staged a protest at the Kalina campus of the University of Mumbai (MU).
The students protested the recent fee hike at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and also expressed solidarity with Fathima Lateef, an Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) student who recently committed suicide after allegedly facing discrimination.
The students stated, they oppose the commodification of education. “This protest is not just for JNU, it’s against a ploy to commodify education and to let a few super-rich to sell it to only those who can afford it,” said Ayush Jindal a second year commerce student.
The agitating students also stated that the incidents of fees hike and Fathima’s suicide are indicative of the shrinking space for students from marginalised sections including poor, Dalits, tribals and minorities.
They demanded the government to roll-back the fee hike and ensure that education remains accessible and affordable for all. The students also demanded immediate probe into the death of Fathima, which the protestors termed as ‘institutional murder’.
“We demand an impartial enquiry on Fathima’s death which is an institutional murder,” said Rafid Shahab from Students islamic Organisation of India (SIO).
Shah further appealed to the student’s community to voice their opinions, to reach out to concerned officials to resist discrimination.
The protest was organised by the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice, a city-based collective of various organisations including Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO), Samta Vidyarthi Aghadi, Samyak Vidyarthi Andolan, Vidyarthi Bharti, All India Students Federation, Chhatra Bharti and Bharat Bachao Andolan.
