IIT Bombay students attack DOSA with Idli

Tension prevailed in several parts of IIT Bombay as protests by students turned violent yesterday. There has been unrest amongst the students since the Maharashtra government announced its decision to raise the legal age for drinking to 25. Students, who were already frustrated with the restrictions prevalent inside the IIT campus, were greatly infuriated by this development. We spoke to the general secretary of hostel affairs. He said: “Consumption of alcohol inside the campus is already prohibited. There has been strident criticism of this policy especially from the PG students. Previously, the PG students used to argue that when the law of the land permits them to consume alcohol, how they can be prohibited from consuming alcohol as if the campus was in some other country. The students suspect the hand of Dean of Student Affairs (DOSA) in the recent government decision to increase minimum drinking age as that would strengthen the case for alcohol prohibition inside the campus. This led to a protest by the students. Initially we protested peacefully. But when that did not attract the attention of the concerned authorities we planned to launch the next stage of attacks: ‘Attack DOSA with Idli’. This would serve 2 purposes: It would make the authorities take notice of the displeasure amongst the students about the new law and also make them aware of the quality of idlis served in the messes”

This is what the Dean of Student Affairs, Dr.Gopal Prakasam had to say about the incident: “A group of around 500 students, armed with deadly idlis from different messes (H5,H1,H13 etc) marched towards the office of the Dean of Student Affairs yesterday and hurled idlis indiscriminately causing heavy damage to furniture and other office equipment. Fortunately, I was not in office at that time. The authorities summoned help from the police to bring the situation under control. 3 police constables have sustained head injuries in the idli-pelting and have been admitted to the Hiranandani hospital. The condition of one of them is said to be critical. I strongly condemn this hooliganism. It is true that the recent government decision, to some extent, vindicates the stand of this office prohibiting alcohol inside the campus. But I would like to make it clear that I have nothing to do with the recent government decision”

We spoke to some of the students in IIT Bombay to get their reactions. Subodh, a second year post-graduate student said: “We want IITs to be world class. We want to emulate Harvard, Stanford, MIT etc. Then how can we be so narrow-minded? We need to get rid of this insularity. Last week, I was drunk and I was dancing near my hostel, half-naked. I was warned for my inappropriate behavior of taking off the shirt! Baba Ramdev can appear on national television bare-chested. But I cannot dance inside my campus without a shirt? These are seriously retrograde policies.”Another student, Navish said: “21-25 is the prime age for drinking. To prohibit people in this age group from drinking is like prohibiting middle-aged housewives from watching TV serials”. Kunal, a second year PG student vented his frustration saying: “You’ll not admit girls, you’ll not permit alcohol. How are we expected to survive?”Another post-graduate student, Prabusekaran brought an entirely new perspective to this issue. He said: “I got married very early and I have a 3 year old kid - Shruthi. However I still haven’t turned 25. If my daughter thinks that the father is still a child, he is not old enough and hence the law prohibits him from doing certain things like consuming alcohol, will I command any respect from my child? Last week I warned my daughter Shruthi, who has just started speaking, not to venture out alone. She retorted: ‘You are still not mature enough to decide what is good for you and because of that the government prohibits you from consuming alcohol. So don’t worry about me..I’ll take care of myself’: See what this new law has done to young fathers like me”

The Maharashtra government has taken cognizance of this protest in IIT. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan issued a statement today – “We will extend our full support to the policemen injured in the violent protests. I am an alumnus of BITS Pilani. So I can imagine how it would be to get hurt by idli. Curfew has been imposed in IIT Powai campus to bring the situation under control. I have constituted an expert committee headed by a retired chief justice of India to study the quality of idlis served in different hostel messes in Maharashtra. The committee will submit its report in 3 weeks. The report will also include recommendations about the mandatory softness levels for idlis and the same would be strictly enforced.”

However the students of IIT Bombay refused to relent. The General Secretary of Hostel Affairs threatened to launch the next wave of attacks in a few days with more lethal objects like vada if the government does not annul its order about the new legal drinking age.

Unconfirmed reports suggested that the dean of student affairs (DOSA) was spotted by the lake side yesterday night celebrating the increase in legal drinking age. He was found dancing with a beer bottle on his head.

Disclaimer: All persons appearing in this work are real. Any resemblance to fictitious characters, created or yet to be created, is purely coincidental.
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