Mohammad Uzair, captain of the IIT Indore Baja team 2018, has been removed from the position for allegedly tweeting against certain policies of the institute.
The decision comes at a time when IIT students are speaking out against the institute management on a range of issues, including poor food, transportation and substandard construction quality.
Baja is a prestigious intercollegiate competition run by the Society of Automotive Engineers. Teams from institutions across the country design and build small off-road cars as part of the contest.
The decision was taken by a committee presided by IIT director Pradeep Mathur on Wednesday evening. Confirming the decision, IIT public relations officer Nirmala Menon said: “Uzair has been removed from captaincy because a person who criticises the institute cannot be its representative.”
Uzair was removed because he allegedly retweeted all the posts on #SaveIITIndore, a Twitter handle used by students to air their grievances anonymously, from his personal account.
Uzair’s colleagues expressed shock over his removal. “He had been preparing for the competition day and night for the last six months. He did not even go home for his holidays,” said one of them on the condition of anonymity.
Students have been on the warpath against the IIT management over its alleged “autocratic behaviour” for a while now. They have complained against poor quality of food in the canteen and lack of proper transportation facilities from Silver Springs, a housing complex where most of the post-graduate students reside, among other things.
{{/usCountry}}Students have been on the warpath against the IIT management over its alleged “autocratic behaviour” for a while now. They have complained against poor quality of food in the canteen and lack of proper transportation facilities from Silver Springs, a housing complex where most of the post-graduate students reside, among other things.
{{/usCountry}}Students have been demonstrating in front of Mathur’s office and residence for the last one month. They have aired their grievances before the human resource development ministry and Indore parliamentarian Sumitra Mahajan in this connection too.