IIT Bombay: Students Protesting Against ‘Veg-Only’ Spaces Slapped With Rs 10,000 Fine

After the designation of ‘veg-only’ spaces at the joint mess, some students staged a symbolic protest by eating non-veg food on the ‘veg-only’ tables.

IIT Bombay fines students protesting against 'veg-only' spaces

The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT Bombay) has imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on students who protested against the veg-only spaces demarcated by one of the mess councils of the premier institute. While an identified student has been slapped with the fine, the institute has also launched further enquiry to identify other students who participated in the protests. Few days back, the hostel management of hostel 12, 13, and 14 at the IIT Bombay, which share a common mess, segregated 6 tables in the mess as ‘veg-only’ tables. 

Following the beg-onoy demarcation to tables in the common mess, some resident students of the hostels staged a protest inside the mess against the ‘segregatory’ move. In their symbolic protest, some students ate non-veg food on the veg-only tables inside the hostel mess. Following the protest, an online Mess Council meeting including the wardens of all the three hostels was held on September 28, 2023. 

APPSC (Ambedkar Phule Periyar Study Circle), an unofficial students’ collective at IIT Bombay, who was among the first groups to raise voice against the designation of veg-only spaces at the hostel mess, shared the minutes of the council meeting on X (formerly Twitter). The council meeting discussed and looked into the complaints regarding unruly behavior and flouting of mess rules by the protesting students. 

“The mess council reviewed the evidence available and determined that a resident of Hostel-12, deliberately instigated the incident during dinner on 28/09/23. This act was a premeditated attempt to disrupt the peace and harmony within the mess, in defiance of the advice provided by the associate dean SA, as evidenced in shared email communication. At least two other individuals were involved, whose identities are yet to be ascertained,” reads the minutes of the meeting shared by APPSC.

“The mess council resolved to enlist the support of student representatives from the Hostel 12-13-14 councils to assist in identifying the other two individuals involved in the incident. Once their identities are established, appropriate disciplinary action will be taken against them as well,” the shared document reads further. 

The mess council notified students about the designation of veg-only spaces in the hostel mess through an email which stated that the move was aimed at creating a more inclusive and peaceful dining experience for all, as per an Indian Express report. In contrast though, students at the campus have termed the move as ‘unnecessary’ and called it out as the opposite of ‘inclusive’ approach.