Sushant Rohilla committed suicide because he was debarred from taking the exams due to low attendance; a process that is often arbitrary. While certain professors from Amity IP can be charged for being whimsical and arbitrary, the institution cannot be accused for abetment of suicide.
In all fairness, it should only be viewed as a trigger, or the straw that broke the camel’s back, and nothing else.
Had the stigma around failure not been ingrained in the minds of young students, had boys not repeatedly been told to make it big before thirty, had jobs not been given only on the basis of academic merit, the situation would’ve been far different from what it is.
The decision to end one’s life is usually one that is thought out and is a result of a large, festering wound. Sushant’s decision could stem from a plethora of factors, invisible to the naked eye.
Maybe his parents didn’t teach him that school and college didn’t define him, maybe his friends did not placate him well enough or provide solid support, and maybe this decision is coming from someplace totally unconnected with college (read: love, family, self doubt, religion)
Individuals, especially young adults, often find themselves clinically depressed. Suicide is not a ‘weak’ choice, but it is often perceived to be a ‘last resort’.
The idea that nothing can get worse than repeating a year is definitely not the one which Amity IP can be accused of forming by itself.
Stephen’s, Christ College Etc Are the Same as Amity IP
LSR, Stephen’s and JMC, which can be seen as qualitatively better institutions than institutions with even lower attendance requirements, often debar students from sitting for their exams when they don’t make the 66.6% cut.
How do teachers reinforce the importance of attendance? Through fear, of course.
In any institution that has attendance requirements, teachers can be heard saying things like “you are not getting your admit card”, “I’m going to make sure you repeat a year” and “you do know that I have the power to mark your internal projects”.
Of course this fear psychosis is undesirable, but the simple question is: have the products of the backward Indian education system reached a stage of consciousness where they would attend classes without the sword of attendance dangling above their heads?
Absolutely not.
When Christ University, Bangalore strictly standardises attendance requirements, people scream for differential treatment for different cases. But why should skipping college to play a tournament be prioritised over not attending college because perhaps writing in bed is important to one?
College authorities are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Fighting a System, Not an Institution
A student protest is often a form of stalling classes and an excuse to bash teachers. The students of universities are using this case to ensure that the university doesn’t bar students, at least for a few more years, because they are so scarred after this incident.
A constructive dialogue between students and teachers from all institutions must be undertaken, to create spaces for communication and grievance redressal.
An attempt to create checks and balances for professors in power must be instituted for students. Moreover, something like a strong feedback mechanism must be formed, where inputs from students (perhaps taken anonymously) must be used to advise teachers and guide their behaviour.
The system needs to be fought at every level. Students need to demand for either a no-attendance policy, or put forth a concrete objective system the institution can undertake. Jobs and employers should seek to understand a candidate more holistically, and schools from the primary level must instil a belief in the self.
Parents should avoid putting pressure on their children, and equip them to fight social pressure. Mental health should be given due importance.
Only with all of this, #JusticeforSushant will be achieved. But till then, everyone from his preschool, to his high school teachers, to Amity IP, to his friends and fellow mooters, to prospective employers and finally, the larger society unconnected with him, must be blamed for his death.
(This is a personal blog and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)