Alumni seek support for jailed IIT-B graduate

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) alumni are trying hard to get more people to rally for the IIT-Bombay graduate, Vikram Buddhi, who was sentenced to over four years in prison last week by a US court for allegedly posting anti-Bush remarks on a website.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) alumni are trying hard to get more people to rally for the IIT-Bombay graduate, Vikram Buddhi, who was sentenced to over four years in prison last week by a US court for allegedly posting anti-Bush remarks on a website.

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“We are trying to garner a nation-wide movement against the injustice. There are online petitions and we have met people in the government but nothing has yielded much so far. More alumni need to come together,” said Ashok Kalbag, secretary, Pan-IIT Alumni, India and alumnus of IIT-B.

Buddhi, a PhD student at the Purdue University, was arrested in April 2006 after being charged for posting anti-Bush remarks on a website.

Delhi-based SC lawyer and activist, Somnath Bharti said “We can’t do this alone. People are afraid of associating with such sensitive cases but we need to come together and pressurise the government to take action.”

Bharti is now starting an association in the US to help defend Indians abroad, especially those who can’t afford a lawyer. “Vikram is symbolic to any and every Indian living and studying abroad. We must do enough to fix government’s accountability in such cases,” he added.