IIT Bombay Students Say Protest Was for Systemic Reform, Not to Justify Cheating
IIT Bombay student representatives said their protest after Sahil Wakode's death sought institutional reforms, not to excuse academic misconduct, and that the Director has agreed to their demands.
Student representatives at IIT Bombay have said their recent protest, held after the death of a second-year undergraduate, was aimed at pressing for institutional reform rather than excusing academic misconduct. In a statement issued on September 21, the representatives said the loss of Sahil Wakode, a 20-year-old student in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, was a deeply tragic event that had pushed the student community to examine the institute's systems and processes.
The protest followed Wakode's death by suicide on September 18. The representatives said they neither support nor condone cheating or any form of academic misconduct, and that the demonstration was a collective effort to flag long-standing systemic concerns and seek meaningful reforms so that no student faces similar circumstances again.
According to the statement, students had spent the preceding days drafting a comprehensive set of demands, which were formally submitted to the Director. The Director acknowledged and signed the demands and committed to implementing them within specified timelines, the representatives said. An open house with the Director and other members of the institute administration was also held, giving students a direct forum to raise concerns and questions. The representatives said the Director responded to the issues in detail and engaged openly with the student community, and they welcomed his approach to identifying and addressing the institutional problems that had surfaced.
On Professor Suryanarayana Doolla, the representatives clarified that they had never presumed his guilt or prejudged the ongoing investigation. They said they stood with him as a member of the faculty and believed the inquiry must proceed fairly and impartially. Their demand, they added, was that he be relieved of his administrative duties as Dean of Administrative Affairs for the duration of the investigation as a precautionary measure to protect its independence, with findings and any subsequent action to follow the established investigative process.
The statement also stressed that the concerns arising from the tragedy should remain student-led and be resolved within the institute. It warned against the loss of Sahil becoming a platform for external political interests, organisations or narratives to shape the concerns of the IIT Bombay student community, noting that the demands had emerged from students' own experiences on campus and that the reform process should stay rooted in the student body and the institute.
The representatives said they would continue to seek accountability, transparency and institutional reform while working constructively with the institute, and pledged to keep raising concerns and representing student voices in efforts to build a safer, more accountable and supportive campus.