Citizenship Act: IIT Kanpur Launches Inquiry Into Students Reciting Faiz Poem ‘Hum Dekhenge’

IIT-Kanpur has formed a committee to inquire into a complaint against the recitation of Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s noted poem ‘Hum Dekhenge’ on campus by students to express solidarity with their peers at Jamia Milia Islamia, the institute’s Deputy Director Manindra Agarwal said.  An IIT-K student sang the poem ‘Hum Dekhenge’ by Faiz, an eminent poet, against which a complaint was filed by Dr Vashimant Sharma, a temporary faculty member, and about 16 others including faculty members and students.

“A committee of six members was established, headed by me, to investigate the matter. Some students have been questioned, while the others will be questioned after they return to the institution after the holidays,” the Deputy Director said.

Agarwal also said there was a war of words on social media war between those supporting the recitation of the poem and those who opposed it.

“It was contributing to escalation of the situation and hence we requested both sides to stop it and they obliged,” he said.

The protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act at the Jamia Millia Islamiahas entered its third week, with several students continuing to throng the streets outside the university. 

The Jamia students, who has been demanding withdrawal of the amendments in the law, questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remark that his government has never discussed the National Register of Citizens (NRC) after coming to power for the first time in 2014.

The students asked how many detention centres will the government build if all Muslims, Christians and other minorities are "outsiders" and "illegal migrants".

According to the amended Act, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 and face religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship. President Ram Nath Kovind had given assent to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, turning it into an Act.