TISS cancels lecture series on Bhagat Singh

Mumbai: The Progressive Students’ Forum (PSF) of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) held a protest at the director’s bungalow on Tuesday at 9.30pm after permission was cancelled for the Bhagat Singh Memorial Lecture series (BSMLs) scheduled for March 23 on the revolutionary’s 92nd death anniversary.

The PSF has been organising BSMLs every year for the past five years. This year, the PSF invited Harsh Mander, human rights activist and author, and Aishe Ghosh, president of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) to deliver the lecture.

“All students from the institute have been preparing for this event. But the administration denied permission to conduct the lecture series last-minute without giving any reason. This is injustice and an insult by not letting us commemorate the martyrs, who gave their lives for the cause of freedom. So, we were forced to hold a midnight protest at the director’s bungalow,” a representative of the PSF said. “The protest will continue on Wednesday, if there was no response from the administration,” he added.

Shalinee Bharat, director of TISS, was unavailable for comment when HT contacted her via call and text message.

In January, the TISS administration did not allow the screening of a BBC documentary on prime minister Narendra Modi, which was organised by the PSF. “To promote the thoughts of Bhagat Singh, we are organising BSMLs every year alongside exhibitions on Bhagat Singh’s life as well as selling books on his life,” a student representative added.