Rs 1.2 lakh fine imposed on students by IIT Bombay for ‘derogatory’ play on Ram, Sita

Following complaints from several students that a drama performance was disrespectful to Hinduism, the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay fined eight students up to Rs 1.2 lakh for taking part in a loosely based version of the epic Ramayana. At the institute's March Performing Arts Festival, a number of students took part in the performance "Raahovan."

An unnamed institute associate informed the newspaper that the play was a feminist reinterpretation of the Ramayana with modified character names and a different storyline, Scroll.in reported.

They said that neither the judges nor the crowd objected to it at the time. A group of students, on the other hand, felt that the epic's new interpretation was demeaning to the Hindu deities Ram and Sita.

Graduates who participated in the performance at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay were fined Rs 1.2 lakh apiece and have been made ineligible for the institute's gymkhana honours. According to reports, junior students have been denied access to hostel facilities and fined Rs 40,000 apiece.

A notification that the college administration gave to one of the students was posted on social media site X by an account called "IIT B for Bharat," a campus organisation that advocates for "Indic civilisational values."

The group praised the institute's actions on Wednesday. “The play…depicted the Ramayana in a derogatory manner,” the post said. “These students misused academic freedom to ridicule Lord Ram, Mata Sita, and Lord Laxman.”