A lot has been said in the last one week about Sahil Wakode’s death by suicide at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay. As alumni of the institute, who have spent years in the campus over the last decade, our first thought upon hearing the news, was: “This could have been us.” Since we were lucky enough to survive, despite the highly stressful and competitive environment of the campus, this article is our attempt to contribute to the discussion on making higher education institutes safe spaces for students, particularly those from marginalised sections of the society. Sahil’s death, unfortunately, is not the first death that IIT Bombay has seen this year. Two other students – Naman Agarwal and Sohil Sangwan – died by suicide in February and July, respectively. The list goes on, 171 students died by suicide across IITs over the last 20 years; 70% of them in the last ten years. This is an alarming trend, one that requires the alumni, broader public and the civil society to acknowledge and find ways to save the young and brilliant minds of this country. If we keep turning a blind eye, we are committing a great disservice to students and hindering the development of our country.The problem begins even before students enter IITs. IIT-Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), viewed as India’s most ‘prestigious’ and toughest examination, has always been deeply intertwined with a large private coaching industry. Regular school education is not considered enough for this examination, compelling students to attend specialised coaching classes. This story is even more complex for students belonging to marginalised sections of the society, including individuals at an economic, social or gendered disadvantage. The aspirational middle classes too end up taking huge loans to prepare their kids for the competitive exam, hoping future employment and fat pay-checks would make up for the financial burden and make way for greener pastures. Thus, it is no coincidence that coaching institutes have also witnessed a rise in deaths by suicides over the last few years, exemplified by Kota, often referred to as the “suicide city of India.”Also read: Harsh Punishments, Humiliation, Berating Parents: The ‘Tyranny’ of Professor Doolla at the Heart of IIT Bombay Student SuicideThe stress does not end after entering IITs, especially if one gains admission under constitutionally mandated reservations. Nobody really asks your caste in IITs, instead they inquire about your JEE rank, a ‘code’ for situating a person within the perceived caste hierarchy. Eventually, it is often students from Dalit, Other Backward Classes, Adivasi and working-class communities who fall back in the race for a higher CGPA, both due to multiple processes of systemic exclusion from social and academic spaces and a lack of the social capital and vocabulary needed to make themselves seen and heard in an institution dominated by class and caste prejudices. We can relate multiple stories from our friends’ circle alone of veiled discriminatory attacks by professors for ‘ruining’ the meritocracy of these premier institutions, forcing them to stay back an extra year to merely complete a course. On top of the pressure to respectably pass classes with a decent CGPA, there is an additional noose hanging around one’s neck: the drive for securing a higher package. Nearly 12 years ago, Rahul Maganti had written about the mad rush in IITs to earn high paying jobs as investment bankers and consultants, in spite of being academically trained as engineers. The commodification of education – the tuition fee at IITs had been increased by eight times between 2008 (Rs 25,000 approximately) and 2016 (Rs 2 lakh approximately) after Anil Kakodkar’s committee’s suggestion on ‘self sufficiency’ of higher educational institutions – further increases the stress on the students to secure a well-paying job to pay back student loans. Needless to say, this stress in not borne equally by all and students from poor and marginalised backgrounds face the extreme brunt of this malaise. Unfortunately, the crisis of the capitalist world and the resultant unemployment which we are living through seeps into the contours of IITs and even the most skilled engineers of the country are not safe from this problem. According to IIT Bombay’s own placement report of 2023-24, which should be taken with a pinch of salt, placement percentage was only 74.53%, a figure that has been continually falling since 2020-21. Contradictions of the capitalist world are expressed starkly within the higher education system. Rising unemployment and higher tuition fees do not demotivate the middle and poorer classes from investing their savings into educational loans, with the persisting hope of escaping their dire economic conditions one day. In fact, the spate of protests demanding educational reforms in the country over the past few months is only an acknowledgement of that contradiction.Before we end, we would like to reflect on the student protests in IIT Bombay following Sahil’s death.Also read: Amid Protests, IIT Bombay Apologises For Previous Statement on Circumstances Surrounding Dalit Student’s DeathIITs in general, but IIT Bombay in particular, do not have democratic and transparent processes to hold authorities and the management accountable. Whatever little accountability exists, does so only on paper. The student council is organised in such a way that representatives are merely caught up in administrative and bureaucratic work without any real legislative power in decision-making bodies. The word ‘politics’ is frowned upon and most representatives are elected on regional, casteist and social basis. Hence, it is not for no reason that no IIT saw any significant protests when the tuition fee was hiked eight times in eight years. Moreover, the student representatives are often only looking to augment their resumes and being known as a PoR inside the campus, a much coveted symbol of ‘fame’ and ‘social status’ within the IIT-landscape. Most happen to be undergraduate students, owing to their sheer number, and the management actively fuels this division between the much more docile undergraduates and the more vocal and politically-conscious postgraduates.This division was the clearest over the last few days when undergraduate student representative expressed reverence to the management while the postgraduate students are still protesting. As alumni of the institute, we believe it is important to question the management of IIT Bombay and continue to demand answers, while supporting the students who have still not given up their struggle for justice. Though deaths by suicide often have structural roots related to caste, commodification of education and decreasing employment opportunities, the management must be held accountable to take small yet effective steps to address this grave situation. Some such steps have been listed by alumni of the institute who had written a letter to the director, which can be accessed here.Otherwise, we may not see an end to this saddening reality. Rahul Maganti, B.Tech Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Sciences, IIT-Bombay, 2015.Ushak Rahaman, PhD Physics, IIT-Bombay, 2018.If you know someone – friend or family member – at risk of suicide, please reach out to them. The Suicide Prevention India Foundation has a list of telephone numbers they can call to speak in confidence. Icall, a counselling service run by TISS, has maintained a crowdsourced list of therapists across the country. You could also take them to the nearest hospital.