MUMBAI: Online debate over the suicide at IIT-B has sharpened, with reactions backing both the protesting students and the professor accused of abetment. Some claimed students from reserved categories struggle with academic pressure and “resort to cheating”, arguing the prof “did nothing wrong by disciplining him”. Sources said at least two of four students who died by suicide at IIT-B in the past nine months were from the general category.While many backed the protesters’ demands, some said these should have included caste sensitisation of faculty and staff. Others accused the student council of “collaborating” with the administration to drop the demand for director Prof Shireesh Kedare’s resignation.The protests have also drawn criticism from within the student community. Some students blamed SFI and leftists for “needlessly prolonging” them, while others targeted the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) department. Anonymous X and Reddit profiles shared personal details of some HSS protesters and called for a “ban on humanities” at IIT.An IIT-B student rejected the online portrayal of a humanities-versus-technical divide, saying students from technical streams were also participating. “We are all students frustrated by the conditions on campus,” the student said, adding that the deaths were “not accidental” but reflected institutional conditions.Some commenters accused the latest victim’s parents of exploiting public sympathy by filing a case under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. One student hit back, saying such comments had crossed “all boundaries of respect”. An anonymous poster said “micro-aggressions” such as hostile looks, comments and being singled out in class were an “everyday reality” for students from marginalised sections. “Action against one professor under SC/ST Act may not change things,” read the post.
