22 years watching IITs, 14 years teaching: Professor says he 'never once' saw caste discrimination

An IIT professor has said he has never witnessed a teacher discriminate against a student on the basis of caste in his 22 years of closely watching the IIT and IIIT system.

Pravesh Biyani, who did his BTech at IIT Bombay and PhD at IIT Delhi, said he has been teaching for 14 years. "I've been a professor for 14 years now. In 22 years of watching the IIT/IIIT system closely, I have never once witnessed a teacher discriminate against a student on the basis of caste," Biyani wrote on X.

Biyani recalled his time as a student at IIT Bombay and said caste rarely came up among students.

"During my BTech, most of us had no idea what caste our batchmates belonged to," he said. "Many of my close friends were SC/ST. We never discussed it. It never entered any conversation or decision. Not once."

He added that students had limited exposure to the humanities department at the time. "The term "Brahmanical patriarchy" didn't even exist back then," he said.

As a teacher, Biyani said he does not ask about a student's identity before helping them. "Often I don't know their name at all - some of my classes have 300+ students. We treat them all the same."

The professor said this was also his experience with his colleagues and the professors who taught him.

Biyani also said social media had "now filled vulnerable students' heads with a lot of manufactured grievance about caste discrimination that, in my experience, doesn't exist."

The professor's comments come after the death of Sahil Ravindra Wakode, a second-year BTech student in IIT Bombay's Energy Science and Engineering department.

Wakode, a native of Maharashtra's Yavatmal district, was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his room in Hostel Number 4 on the Powai campus on Friday evening. This was hours after he was allegedly caught using a mobile phone and ChatGPT during a mid-semester examination.

Wakode's family has alleged institutional harassment and caste-based discrimination. The allegations triggered protests on campus, with students claiming that he faced severe pressure and threats of academic suspension.

The Powai police registered an FIR under Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, relating to abetment of suicide, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, based on a complaint by his parents.

The case was transferred to the Crime Branch on Saturday night. The Crime Branch is likely to summon the accused professor and others for questioning.

IIT Bombay has removed Prof Suryanarayana Doolla as Dean (Administrative Affairs). Doolla has also been named as an accused in the case.

According to IIT Bombay, Wakode had allegedly uploaded the examination question paper to ChatGPT to seek answers during the exam. The institute said no disciplinary action was initiated against him.

The instructor and Head of Department had discussed the matter with Wakode and counselled him, assuring him that the incident would not adversely affect his academic career, the institute said. He later returned to his hostel room and was found dead that evening.