TISS students protest against Ramesh; boycott convocation over N-plants

Around 30 graduating students of the prestigious Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai today boycotted the institute's annual convocation ceremony where union minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh was the chief guest, protesting against granting clearance to nuclear power projects.

Some students carried placards, others wore yellow-and-black T-shirts bearing anti-nuke slogans, while some sporting black bands greeted the minister with slogans as he arrived at the TISS Deonar Campus to deliver the convocation address this afternoon.

Pranab Doley, an organiser of the protest, said the students were protesting against the 9,900-MW Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project in Ratnagiri in Maharashtra and other mega-projects in Orissa and Jharkhand. He said the projects would displace and uproot thousands common people.

He added that since the student community felt strongly about the mega project, they thought it fit to boycott the convocation ceremony at which they would have been conferred their coveted degrees at the hands of the minister.

Anticipating protests, the police had deployed tight security outside the venue, but the protest passed off peacefully.

Following his arrival at the venue, Ramesh made his way to the auditorium for the ceremony, but the graduating batch,
including half a dozen girls, remained outside.

According to Doley, after the function, the students planned to submit a memorandum to the minister and also quiz him on various controversial projects coming up around the country.