IIT-Bombay canteen shows ‘vegetarians only’ posters: Have the rules changed? This is what RTI queries reveal
Students at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-Bombay) have raised concerns about food discrimination after posters with the message "vegetarians only are allowed to sit here" were displayed in a canteen at Hostel 12. The incident came to light when a photo of the posters went viral on social media.
The Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC), representing the students, condemned the incident and took action by tearing down the discriminatory posters. Their investigation through RTIs (Right to Information) and emails to the hostel's general secretary, it was revealed that there is no official policy for food segregation at the institute.
Still, certain individuals took it upon themselves to designate specific mess areas as "vegetarians only", thereby forcing other students to leave those areas. “The need to demarcate separate eating spaces with an idea of purity is to reinforce the superiority of savarnas on campus and deem their eating habits better than those of DBA students," APPSC IIT Bombay tweeted.
In response to the incident, the hostel's general secretary sent an email to all students, reminding them that such behaviour is unacceptable and goes against the core values of mutual respect and tolerance that the institution seeks to uphold. The email explicitly emphasises that no student has the right to remove another student from any area of the mess based on the grounds of community-based reservations.
RTI enquiries reveal that, in IIT Bombay, there are no separate hostels that have designated Jain food spaces in messes where non-vegetarian students are prohibited from taking egg or meat products. The university does not have such segregated facilities for Jain students seeking vegetarian food.
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