Spiralling Out of Control - A Protest Saga
Ever since Sunday evening, the atmosphere in IIT Patna has been charged with emotion, anger, confusion, and suspicion. Around 8:30 PM on 15th October 2022, Dewanand Pandit, a Ph.D. scholar from the Mechanical Engineering department, was pronounced dead at the Netaji Subhas Medical College and Hospital, adjacent to the IIT Patna campus. The events that followed afterward resulted in a nearly 24-hour stand-off between the students and the administration of IIT Patna.
After speaking to various parties involved, Forthright has compiled the sequential order of events and this article attempts to bring clarity and an unbiased account of the incident and, finally, the resolution to the whole episode. Before we begin, we do accept our limitations and shortcomings in covering this episode and providing live updates which may have improved the events that transpired.
DEWANAND’S DEMISE
On 15th October, Dewanand Pandit, a Ph.D. scholar in the Mechanical Engineering Department, was severely ill. According to the students who accompanied Dewanand, the patient was admitted to the Institute hospital at 3 AM. The on-duty doctor could not give him medication due to his developing health complications.
In this situation, the bystanders claim that the MO was consulted. They added that he verbally recommended the patient to NSMCH where he was admitted at around 4 AM. He was sent to the ICU ward at around 6 AM however the Medical Officer (MO) claims that the student was never explicitly referred to NSMCH and could have been admitted to any of the hospitals nearby. The bystanders stated that the hospital service was absolutely inadequate and the staff did not pay enough attention to the case. They also stated that they were kept in dark for most of the time and were instructed to get several tests done but no information was given on what the test results were, why they were taken, or what Dewanand’s medical status was but the administration has argued that medical reports could not be disclosed without the patient's wife's consent so the hospital was only following protocol.
From the bystanders’ statements, we concluded that the hospital did not enquire about the patient’s history and previous medication. The Gymkhana however states that on their inquiry, this was followed and there was no medical history provided when asked for.
Around 12 PM in the afternoon, the bystanders add that Dewanand’s brother was informed and after he arrived, he told the medical officials about his usage of Warfarin, a blood thinner, for his ailing medical condition. This information was critical, as the doctors were running tests and treatment on the initial assumption of Tuberculosis which was then negated.
However, the bystanders refuted the A.Dean Student’s allegation sent by mail claiming that it was self-medication. They state that Dewanand had been prescribed this during his last medical consultation in Kolkata but was also advised to get regular medical tests done upon its consumption which he was unable to do due to this family’s poor financial condition.
After this around 4 PM in the evening, Dewanand was put on the ventilator as his respiratory system began failing. The students claim that there was an absence of any college authority and it was only after the PGR called A.Dean Student and MO at around 5 PM, that college authorities visited the patient.
When inquired why this happened, the Gymkhana clarified that MO was informed at 10 AM after being admitted to ICU. Neither NSCMH nor the MO had informed the admin about Dewanand’s condition yet though.
After Dewanand’s condition worsened, the PIC-Medical, Registrar, and DR General Admin Vijay Kumar had arrived at the hospital. NSMCH was clearly uncooperative with the admin officials as well, denying access initially even to the MO to visit Dewanand or get briefed by the doctors. The bystander students state that NSMCH had even brought up bouncers/guards to prevent them from going inside the ICU.
The bystanders also stated that once the patient's heart was working at around 15% capacity, they were informed that he needed special treatment for which he must be taken to Medanta hospital but that wasn't possible as the patient’s condition made him unable to travel till there either by ambulance or air ambulance.
Dewanand then took his last breath at 8:30 PM on 15th October, leaving a void in the hearts of those who loved and cared for him deeply.
PROTEST & PROVOCATION
Post-Dewanand’s demise, the Student gymkhana along with his friends organized a candle-lighting ceremony at 5:45 PM on the next day at the administration block.
Some of his friends came forward to inform everyone about what happened. A lot of students were enraged by the hospital’s inhumane actions and negligence toward the deceased. The presence of several placards held up during the ceremony with slogans about blacklisting NSMCH and the lack of medical facilities in and around IIT Patna could also be observed.
Later, candles were lit by students, as well as the few faculty present - the A.Dean Student Affairs, Dr. Smriti Singh, Dr. Probir Saha - HoD Mechanical Dept., as well as the Gymkhana representatives. Surprisingly, there was a stark absence of all the other faculty in the candle-lighting session
As time passed on, the gathering increased in size and the Gymkhana sensed that the situation was getting out of control. By then, the faculty and staff had left. Soon, a group of students broke out and started marching toward one of the entry gates to the campus. Considering the tense atmosphere and sentiments brewing up, it was unsurprising to see a large procession of students marching towards the gate, candles in their hands and slogans on their tongues. The Gymkhana members stated that they were perplexed and had no intent or information about the procession heading outside the gates, all gymkhana members except the PGR who had left the scene at that point, tried controlling the crowd but in vain.
The crowd then decided to sit outside the Gate as a sign of protest at the administration that was unwilling to talk with the students. In a short span, messages began floating across Whatsapp and a large population of students started arriving at the Gate. At this point, the administration and faculty seemed to be surprised at the developments, as it seemed to be uncalled to them. Forthright notes that the evident gap in communication worsened the situation, and the onus was put on each other by both sides - students and administration - to reach out and communicate with each other.
Soon, an agenda was drafted by the students along with some Gymkhana representatives to be presented to the Director. The Director was, however, not on campus yet, and it was told that he wouldn’t be present on campus until later that day. The students patiently waited and demanded that the Director must come out and light the candle, pay his respects to the deceased and then hear out the concerns of all the students.
The sequence of events that developed afterward aggravated the situation and polarized the students with more rage and hostility toward the administration. At around 11 PM, a mail was sent by the A.Dean Student refuting the allegations put up by the PGR in the mail addressing the student community. A specific point referring to the patient’s medical history provoked the students, making them suspect that the admin was trying to wash their hands off the incident. The A.Dean SA was also misheard (as informed by Gymkhana) making remarks against a group of students who were watching a movie/Youtube video during the candle vigil. This led to even greater hostility against the A.Dean Student Affairs throughout the demonstration.
Besides these incidents, the wardens had also unnecessarily given stern instructions to shut the gates, first at Gate 1, and then in each of the hostels which were later reversed but such actions had a provocative effect on the student psyche and needless to say, tensions rose.
Provocations were not limited to the faculty either, the students were often seen testing the waters one defiance after the other. What started as a peaceful protest against medical negligence soon turned into a tirade against the administration and Institute. A student had informed a media reporter from a reputed TV news channel, and dozens followed. At the same time, a Twitter campaign had unleashed, blaming the Institute as much as the hospital for negligence, and hashtags targeted against the Director, administration, and Institute.
As much as it is the students’ right and duty to speak against what is wrong, it was concerning to see the campaigns and statements to media laced with misinformation and targeted attacks.
Around 10:30 PM, the presence of police personnel was also spotted near the protest site. It is alleged that they wanted to scare off the protestors. The Gymkhana tells us that in a telephonic conversation with the admin, the police brought up the possibility of FIR against the gathered students. Eventually, no such action was taken and the police left the scene.
Amidst slogans demanding the resignation of officials and blacklisting NSMCH, faculties from various departments were seen visiting the protest site. This enraged a few of the Ph.D. students, who were working directly under a few faculty, and did not want to face or confront the faculty of their own departments. The professors tried to convince the students to come inside and demonstrate, but nobody budged and they had no option but to leave.
At midnight, the Director and the Gymkhana representatives excluding the PGR finally decided to meet, and the Gymkhana presented the agenda to him along with the other demands of the students. The Director discussed the possibility of each demand and was quite supportive of each but the absence of the PGR made it difficult to settle the issues.
No progress was made on that day mainly due to two developments -
First, the presence of external media personnel who were called upon by students and were given statements, by the students.
Second, the dissonance between the students and the Director regarding where they shall be meeting and continuing with the discussion. The students were adamant that the Director meet them outside the gate the Director felt the situation was being exaggerated and the students come to the Administration block and express their concerns to him.
The discussions of the meetings were, however, not efficiently communicated to the students, and more importantly, all kinds of communication from the admin was not relayed at all by the Gymkhana to the students.
The Gymkhana did state that they went personally to the sit-in and tried communicating with the protesters, but as soon as the point about coming back inside was brought up, the representatives were no longer entertained by the crowd.
Due to the lack of common ground on who shall come where the protest continued well into the night inciting them to sit in all night. The protest continued the next day morning, triggering the entire student community to boycott classes and lab sessions, including the TAs and RAs assigned. There was also the rumor that some BTech students have also decided to block the other entry gate, which elicited the Director to consider calling the Police on any disturbance at Gate 2. The Gymkhana reps were called and asked about this by the admin which resulted in the representatives immediately requesting all BTech students to return to their hostels or gather near the administrative block to prevent any strict actions against the students by the administration.
RECONCILIATION AND COMPROMISE
Around 12:30 PM, a meeting took place where the Director, Medical officer, and other officials from the administration and the Gymkhana Core team were present. All the points put across by the students and the complaints raised were fully analyzed, beginning with the medical explanation for everything that transpired at NSMCH. According to the Gymkhana reps, the MO explained in detail what happened and stated that the news of the student being admitted to NSMCH had not reached him. Moreover, Gymkhana noted that there were many discrepancies between the information that the students had and what the Medical officer had to say in the meeting.
The points were once again put forward and were all discussed in the Director’s office. The Director insisted on a representative from the protestors’ side after they began cornering and rebuking the Gymkhana representatives. In the end, some of the protestors gathered the courage to rise up and represent those at the sit-in protest.
After another such round of meetings, the terms on which the admin shall fulfill the demands were finalized and the Director agreed to come out to light the candle - but on the condition that he shall talk to the students inside the gates of IIT Patna. He, the A. Deans and respective Heads of Departments then paid their homage to the late Dewanand Pandit and proceeded to address the students’ concerns. The protestors finally withdrew from the site, putting an end to the entire episode with the hope of a better future for IIT Patna.
It was a tiresome and hectic 24 hours charged with emotion, suspicion, and the glaring gap in communication among students, Gymkhana, and the administration - bringing enough takeaways for all parties and reinforcing the desideratum for a media body in the IIT Patna community.
We also take this opportunity to call upon the whole IIT Patna student community, alumni, and faculty to donate financial help for Dewanand’s family. Coming from a poor financial background with enough stress due to his father’s cancer treatment, his family now faces a bigger void having lost their major family breadwinner.
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