IIT-B students complain of food discrimination after ‘vegetarians only’ posters put up on canteen walls

livemint.com:

Students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Bombay have complained of food discrimination after some posters discouraging non-vegetarians from sitting in the canteen were put up on the walls of one of the hostels in Mumbai. The posters read "vegetarians only are allowed to sit here." The incident came to light when the posters emerged on social media.

An institute official stated that they became aware of the posters in the canteen, which promoted exclusivity for vegetarians, but they were uncertain about the source responsible for putting them up. The official also said that no seats have been allotted for people consuming different categories of food.

The official also said that the institute is unaware about who put up the posters. As the matter came to light, representatives of the student collective Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC) condemned the incident and tore the posters.

“Though RTIs and emails to the hostel’s general secretary revealed that there is no policy for food segregation at the institute, some individuals have taken it upon themselves to designate certain mess areas as ‘vegetarians only’ and force other students to leave that area," the AAPSC said. After the incident, the hostel general secretary sent a mail to all the students that read: "There is a counter for Jain distribution in the hostels mess, but there is no designated sitting space for those who consume Jain food." According to the general secretary, there have been reports of individuals forcefully designating specific areas in the mess as "Jain sitting space" and barring those who bring non-vegetarian food from sitting in those designated areas.