“It felt like they are creating more and more ‘vegetarian-only' spaces, excluding us from more and more spaces,” said a student from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, reacting to a poster that was put up outside a canteen on campus.
The purported poster read, “Amul Canteen is a pure-vegetarian eatery. Bringing non-vegetarian stuff even in the canteen’s dining area is strictly not allowed.” It was put up by the elite institute’s ‘Hygiene Committee’ on 13 August.
“How is eating non-vegetarian food in a common dining area a hygiene issue,” asked another student, who is also a member of the institute’s student body Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC).
The student body shared a picture of the poster on X (formerly Twitter) saying:
A member of the ‘Hygiene Committee,’ on the condition of anonymity, told The Quint that the notice has now been withdrawn and emphasised that their intention “was not to discriminate.”
However, students fear that this is not an isolated incident and will possibly recur.
Nearly a year ago, the Mess Council had put up a similar notice, designating six tables in the common mess of hostels 12, 13 and 14 as ‘vegetarian only.’
At the time, a student who sat at one such designated veg-only' table and ate non-vegetarian food – in an act he described as “civil disobedience against casteist segregation” – was fined Rs 10,000 by the institute’s Dean of Student Affairs.
‘Current Poster an Extension Last Year’s Order’
“They are again trying to do what they did last year, albeit without the direct approval from the administration,” the APPSC member lamented.
Students described the current incident as “an extension” of the order that was passed by the Mess Council last year basing it on the sheer proximity of the Amul Canteen to Hostel 14.
The said canteen is the only vegetarian eatery among 13-14 private canteens on campus. It has a makeshift dining area with plastic tables and chairs placed in the common area outside the eatery. There’s a small park with benches adjacent to this common dining area, where students often have their meals.
“The notice asked students not to bring non-vegetarian meals, sort of demarcating the area. But how does one distinguish where the canteen’s area starts and stops? What is more problematic is forcing students into ghettos – those who eat meat and those who don’t,” a student told The Quint, requesting anonymity.
Meanwhile, the Hygiene Committee member said that workers from the said canteen had raised the issue of cleanliness after some students left their uneaten meals on the tables.
The committee, formed in 2017-18, works to ensure hygiene is maintained across canteens, and checks if their cooking areas are clean, the food being sold is safe to consume and the staff have undergone the requisite medical checkups, the member told The Quint.
“But this can happen with both vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals. This is not an ignorant move; it’s a deliberate, systematic to propagate the idea that non-vegetarian food is polluted, while vegetarian food is pure,” the APPSC member asserted. He alleged that the Hygiene Committee “never intervened when rats and dogs were seen eating leftovers.”
‘Last Year’s Order Reinforces the Idea that Administration is Pro-Segregation'
Last year, on 27 September, students at IIT Bombay received an email, which stated that six tables in the mess of Hostel 12, 13, and 14 had been designated as 'vegetarian-only'. The email was sent by the Mess Council, which comprises the hostel wardens, mess management, and elected student representatives.
It also warned of "proper action" – including "imposing penalties" – against students who don't comply with the order. Irked by the move, some students decided to protest it. They wrote to the Dean of Student Affairs Surya Doolla, informing him about the scheduled protest in advance.
While Doolla asked the students to hold off the protest, the next day, they protested in the mess by having non-vegetarian food on the designated tables in an act of civil disobedience. One such student was penalised Rs 10,000.
While APPSC maintained that the act of civil disobedience was largely peaceful, in an email response to students on 5 October 2023, Doolla claimed it led to a "conflict" and that "indiscipline in any form leading to disruption of harmony in hostels will not be tolerated."
“The Dean went out of his way by writing to the students about the protest, singling out a particular student – who was penalised – and making an example out of him. This gives students a message that IIT Bombay’s administration is pro-veg-only spaces and hence, pro-segregation,” a student remarked.
He added that the administration needs to establish “a more inclusive space” rather than “segregating based on eating habits.”
The APPSC member claimed that the SC/ST Cell at IIT Bombay is “almost defunct” without a mandate and doesn’t still have a mechanism to redress grievances such as these.
‘Move Part of Larger Plan to Saffronise Campus’
“This is not the first time it has happened, and it won’t be the last time. The administration is using China’s salami-slicing strategy to saffronise the campus,” one of the students, The Quint spoke to, said.
He cited the recent example when eight students were penalised heavily for participating in a satirical play as part of the Performing Arts Festival, which was held in March this year. The play allegedly “mocked Lord Ram and the Ramayana,” according to a report in The Hindu.
“The participants were fined anywhere between Rs 50,000 to Rs 2.5 lakh and their hostel facilities were revoked,” the student alleged.
The APPSC member recalled a 2018 incident, where a fine of Rs. 50,000 was allegedly imposed by the Mess Council because “veg food was being cooked on a stove reserved for cooking non-veg food.”
He also recalled an incident, when in December 2018, IIT Madras’ administration had reportedly segregated entry and exit points, utensils, wash basins and hand-wash bottles for vegetarian and non-vegetarian students.
In 2014, the Union HRD Ministry (precursor to Education Ministry) had written to IITs and Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) to seek their response on a demand to have a separate canteen for vegetarian students on their campus.
The letter reportedly was written by a group of people from Madhya Pradesh, including members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). One such signatory to the letter – an RSS member and businessman – told Deccan Herald, “We have demanded a separate canteen for vegetarian students at these institutes so that good students are not spoiled by non-vegetarian food. If your eating habits are pure, you will have a pure nature. If you eat Tamasic food, your nature and behaviour will also become Tamasic (dark and unrighteous).”
Recollecting the report, a student remarked that the segregation based on eating habits is against the Constitution of India and the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and the Untouchability Act, 1955 (renamed as the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1976).
The Quint has reached out to the Dean of Student Affairs and IIT Bombay's Public Relations Officer (PRO) with queries and will update the story once they respond.
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