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Recently the students at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay have raised the issue of ‘food discrimination’ in the college. This happened after a ‘vegetarians only’ poster was seen on the walls of one of the canteen’s hostels. It was reported that the poster was found there last week and has humiliated a lot of non-vegetarian students.
The picture of "Vegetarians only are allowed to sit here" was found on the walls of the canteen of Hostel 12 at the prestigious college, and it quickly went viral on social media. Speaking about the incident, an official from the institute claimed that they had found the poster but did not know who had put it there. As reported by PTI, the official said, "There are no fixed seats for people consuming different categories of food, and the institute is unaware of who put up the posters."
The representatives of the student collective Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC) condemned the incident and tore up the posters. "Though RTIs and emails to the hostel’s general secretary revealed that there is no policy for food segregation at the institute, some individuals have taken it upon themselves to designate certain mess areas as ‘vegetarians only’ and force other students to leave that area," the AAPSC said.
Soon after the incident, the hostel’s general secretary sent an email to all the students saying, "There is a counter for Jain distribution in the hostel's mess, but there is no designated sitting space for those who consume Jain food." According to the general secretary, there have been reports of individuals forcefully designating certain areas of the mess as "Jain sitting space" and not allowing individuals who bring non-vegetarian food to sit in those areas.
The email further stated, "Such behaviour is unacceptable, and no student has the right to remove another student from any area of the mess on the grounds that it is reserved for a particular community. If any such incident is repeated, we will be forced to take strict action against those involved."
