Dubey film to launch IIT mega meet

“Na mujhe yaad rakhna, na mera kaam yaad rakhna, bas itni dua hain ke paigam yaad rakhna

(Don’t remember me or my work. Just remember my
message).”

To be screened for President A P J Abdul Kalam on Saturday at the inauguration of “PanIIT 2006”, these closing lines of a short film on IIT alumnus, Late Satyendra Dubey, best echoes the theme of the three-day meet: “Inspire IITians to Involve and Transform India”.
To be attended by over 5,000 talented minds from across the globe, PanIIT will depict its theme in various segments, centred around nation building. Among the several discussion points are: knowledge economy, poverty alleviation, entrepreneurship, decentralised services, governance and advanced technologies.
“The film best fits the theme,” says Shailesh Gandhi, former IITian and a Right to Information activist.
A shorter version of the original 45-minute documentary chronicling the life of Dubey from his childhood to his years in IIT will be screened at the end of Saturday’s inauguration at the MMRDA Grounds, Bandra Kurla Complex.
“Now, everyone at IIT looks up to him. The film will be a reminder of his sacrifice and is a humble attempt to revive public interest,” says its maker, Mumbai-based Minnie Vaid.
Thirty-one-year-old IIT graduate and National Highways Authority of India employee, Dubey was murdered in 2003 after exposing corruption in the Bihar leg of the Golden Quadrilateral highway project. A sustained campaign led by The Indian Express finally pushed the government to commit on law to protect whistleblowers.
A 24-minute version of the Vaid’s documentary was premiered on Dubey’s third death anniversary on November 27 on television. But the DVD of the 45-minute documentary will be released on Sunday at PanIIT by the first recipient of the “Satyendra Dubey Memorial Award”, Arvind Kejriwal.
“We will run the film continuously for two days (December 24 and 25) during PanIIT,” adds Vaid.
The film begins with the recreation of his death and moves on to the opening montage: “Satyendra Dubey, son of Satyendra Jayate—the story of a whistleblower”. The film traces his life, the national outrage as a result of his death, and includes an emotional reaction from his father: “I am very angry at a system which allowed a boy like Satyendra to be killed.”
Says Ashank Desai, event head and Mastek chairman: “Many among us have felt the need to give back to India and to our alma mater. It’s time to redefine the institute from the Indian Institute of Technology to Inspire, Involve and Transform. We aim to evolve people and their ideas into a movement through PanIIT.”
The schedule of the meet has been based on the response to an e-survey of thousands of IITians on “how they want to contribute towards nation building”.
PanIIT was formed as an umbrella organisation covering the alumni of all seven IITs to evolve a brand that would provide “strong fraternity among the IIT alumni” and the PanIIT Board started functioning from 2002. PanIIT also aims to support existing projects or start new initiatives on transforming India.