Mumbai Police Condemned for Brutal Crackdown on Peaceful Protesters Supporting Suspended TISS Scholar Ramadas
Mumbai, March 28, 2025 – The Mumbai Police have faced widespread condemnation following their violent detention and arrest of students, activists, and civil society members who were peacefully protesting outside the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Mumbai campus. The demonstration was held in response to the suspension of Ramadas Prini Sivanandan, a PhD scholar, member of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) Central Executive Committee, and a vocal critic of government policies. Among those arrested were prominent SFI leaders, including All India General Secretary Mayukh Biswas, Maharashtra State Secretary Rohidas Jadhav, and State President Somanth Nirmal.
The protest, which saw participation from hundreds of writers, activists, Left-leaning and Dalit organizations, and concerned citizens, was a united stand in defense of freedom of speech and campus democracy. Demonstrators rallied against what they describe as an escalating assault on democratic rights in Maharashtra, pointing to a pattern of state-supported violence and repression. Critics have accused the BJP-led central government and the Mahayuti coalition in Maharashtra of fostering an authoritarian environment intolerant of dissent.
The crackdown follows a controversial "Advisory" issued by the TISS administration a day prior, warning students against participating in the protest. The advisory explicitly threatened disciplinary action against students engaging in demonstrations, whether on or off campus, in a move widely criticized as an attempt to stifle free expression and shield the BJP government from scrutiny.
Ramadas, a first-generation learner from a Dalit background, has been at the center of this controversy since his suspension and the denial of his National Fellowship for Scheduled Castes. His outspoken criticism of the BJP, particularly regarding the privatization of education through the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 during a Parliament March in 2024, is believed to have triggered the punitive actions against him. Activists allege that the Mahayuti government directly instructed the Mumbai Police to suppress the protest, targeting those defending Ramadas’ democratic rights and his rightful fellowship.
The heavy-handed police response has sparked outrage, with demands for the immediate release of all detained protesters. “This is an attack on the very fabric of democracy,” said a spokesperson for the demonstrators. “We will not be silenced. The fight to reverse Ramadas’ unjust suspension and to reclaim democratic spaces on campus will continue with even greater resolve.”
As tensions rise, the incident has reignited debates over the shrinking space for dissent in India’s academic institutions and the broader erosion of civil liberties under the current political regime.
