“In TISS academic freedom means lack of diverse opinions, critical thinking means homogeneous propaganda, freedom of expression means silencing others and dissent means reading handouts from intelligence agencies of hostile states,” says Abhinav Prakash – Asst. Professor at the Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi. In the past few days, Prakash has brought to light some very disturbing trends prevalent at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Hyderabad – and they most frequently relate to students and “researchers” of the institute toeing the Pakistani line on Kashmir.
A dissertation paper by a student at TISS-Hyderabad recently caught the public eye and gave rise to a storm on social media. The paper titled, “Engendering Conflict: Understanding the impact of Militarization, Conflict and Pandemic-Induced Lockdown on Domestic Violence in India occupied Kashmir” by one Ananya Kundu falsely insinuated that “all issues of gender-based violence in Kashmir are impacted by the ongoing conflict and militarization. So, in order to resolve the issue of gender-based violence, the conflict and militarization needs to be brought to an end. This will require the government to address the political aspirations of Kashmiris for self-determination an autonomy.”
The imbecile author of the paper – which was supervised by one Dr Nilanjana Ray, effectively concluded that domestic violence in the valley is caused by India’s “occupation” of Kashmir and for it to be brought to an end, Kashmir must be freed.
In another dissertation paper titled “Place of Kashmir in Indian Nationalism”, the author Saem Hashmi, in the ‘rationale’ section of the paper repeatedly calls India a colonial occupier in Kashmir. The author whitewashes and justifies the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri pandits and Hindus while calling international terrorist organisations like LeT ‘militants’, who never target people based on their religion or faith.
https://twitter.com/Abhina_Prakash/status/1407054002710327296?s=20
There are many other such dissertation papers and research works which are now tumbling out of the closets and exposing TISS Hyderabad, and its regional campuses as places infested with India-hating students and faculty whose entire world revolves around somehow deriding India, and seeking its destruction. The institute also has its fair share of Islamists and terror-sympathisers, who under the garb of a far-left worldview, peddle a jihadi campaign against India.
After TISS began garnering anger for allowing India haters and anti-nationals the voice and means to peddle propaganda, the Hyderbad-based social sciences school issued a statement, saying that it did not “endorse” the research title and that “necessary action has been initiated for fact finding”. It is mind boggling how TISS realised that it does not endorse the title of the anti-national paper only after the same found its way on social media and gave rise to a storm, with people demanding that the institute be defunded, or better, shut down for good.
https://twitter.com/raghavpandeyy/status/1406634165454311432?s=20
https://twitter.com/BBTheorist/status/1407303847345672193?s=20
The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) which was established in 1936, is a Deemed University fully funded by the University Grant Commission (UGC), Government of India. Why the Indian government is continuing to fully fund a university which allows students to carry seditious, secessionist and borderline terror-qualifying research is something which gives us a complete miss. The need of the hour is to choke institutes like TISS of all fundings. The Indian State must at least have the shame and dignity of not allowing its own money to be used in research works which are explicitly anti-national.