Mumbai: 500 students of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay had taken out a Tiranga Yatra on the campus on the eve of Republic Day.
They carried along with a 1000-foot-long Indian flag during the procession. The demonstrations are held despite institute director Subhasis Chaudhuri’s instructions for students and faculty to keep political activities off the campus.
A student organiser issued the following statement “The Tiranga rally was held to strengthen students’ unity on the campus since the divide along ideological lines became evident especially after the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The rally’s objective was to respect the Constitution and understand what it stands for,”
The students marched from Hostel 10 to the convocation hall and the rally culminated with participants singing the national anthem.
Meanwhile, a cultural event on the theme of the Constitution will be held on Sunday at the campus to conclude a 10-day lecture series on the Preamble to the Constitution.
The series was organised in the wake of nationwide protests against the CAA. A section of students, research scholars and faculty members delivered lectures and conducted discussions on the concepts in the Preamble such as ‘We, the people of India’, ‘liberty, equality, fraternity’ and ‘sovereign republic’.
The institute’s students and faculty earlier this month also had staged a 10-day protest on the campus to condemn the JNU violence.
Meanwhile, the state education department has made the reading of the Preamble mandatory in schools on a daily basis from this Republic Day.
“All citizens should understand the scope of the principles and inclusivity of the Indian Constitution.” a government resolution was issued on February 4, 2013, asking all schools to read the Preamble to the Constitution.
