look news india
The ongoing controversy over a possible ban and temporary disruptions on the popular messaging app Telegram in India has now reached the campuses of the country’s most prestigious technical institutions. A very shocking case has come to light regarding this sensitive issue, where the director of an IIT and a promising student of the institute, Sarthak Siddhant, have come face to face in favor and opposition of this ban. This high-profile debate has fueled a new legal and ethical battle not only within campuses but across academia, the tech community and social media across the country.
Security vs freedom: Why the dispute started between IIT director and Sarthak
This entire controversy started when the director of the institute supported the government’s stand of temporary ban citing national security, paper leak incidents and piracy spreading through Telegram. Soon after, IIT student Sarthak Siddhant openly opposed this possible ban, supporting digital rights and students’ education. Sarthak Siddhant argues that millions of students in the country depend on Telegram’s vast network for coding, study material sharing, notes and research work. Shutting down the entire platform for one mistake would be playing with the future of the youth and their digital freedom.
Tech experts and digital rights activists also jumped into this debate
This debate, which started within the IITs, has taken a big national form in no time. Big tech experts of the country and organizations working for digital rights are now seen standing in support of the Student Sarthak principle. Experts say that Telegram is not just a chatting app, but it works like an open-source tool for developers and educators. On the other hand, the faction that justifies the director’s statement believes that under the guise of privacy and encryption, Telegram is being used for anti-national activities and large-scale rigging in examinations, which is extremely important to be stopped.
There was a stir among student groups from Delhi, Kota to Lucknow and Bengaluru.
As soon as this big news went viral, a huge stir is being seen among the students and youth from the major education hubs of the country like Kota, Delhi-NCR, Prayagraj and Lucknow to the Silicon Valley of Bengaluru. Student organizations say that if Telegram is completely banned, then they will have to find new options for their studies and group studies, which is a very difficult task. According to administrative and legal experts, this ideological battle between the IIT director and Sarthak Siddhant is actually a perfect example of how complex it has become in the modern era to strike a balance between security and technology.