IIT-Madras Students’ Row: Clearing the Air

Manish, the student who attacked Sooraj for organising a beef fest, isn’t a member of Vivekananda Study Circle.

Manish, the IIT-Madras student who allegedly attacked fellow student Sooraj (PhD scholar), for organising a beef fest, does not belong to the Vivekananda Study Circle, as per an official clarification. (Photo: PTI/Altered by The Quint)

The Quint published an article on the misinterpretation of the SC’s new cattle market regulations by most of the public, including the students of IIT-Madras.

It was mentioned in the article that violence broke out between students of different study groups, in which Sooraj, a PhD research scholar sustained severe injuries.

The article also mentioned that Sooraj belonged to the Ambedkar-Periyar study group, and that the attacker, Manish, belonged to the Vivekananda Study group.

The Quint received information on Manish, being a member of the Vivekananda study group, from another IIT student, two days after the attack, during a students’ silent protest seeking justice for Sooraj. The student in question belonged to neither of the study groups.

The information was also corroborated by an article published in The News Minute (which has now been retracted).

The Quint received an email from Chaitanya Vijay, a member of the Vivekananda Study circle, stating that Manish, the alleged attacker, was not part of the study group.

[...] The reality, however, is that no student from Vivekananda Study Circle is involved in the incident. Also, we are not on seemingly opposite ends as mentioned and there has been no time violence has ever erupted between the groups. Publishing this article without verifying the facts is equivalent to slandering our name and is not acceptable. Kindly visit our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/VSC1997">Facebook</a> page or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/VSCIITMadras">YouTube</a> channel to understand what we do before carelessly writing about us. We urge you to kindly correct the article and publish an apology for it immediately.

Chaitanya Vijay, Vivekananda Study Circle

The information received by The Quint on Manish is not independently verifiable.
We are therefore publishing the response from Vivekananda Study Circle. The Quint has also reached out and spoken to Chaitanya, a member of the Vivekananda Study Circle, to confirm and corroborate the contents of the letter.