GNLU Gandhinagar director Dr Bimal Patel has emailed students after more than 50 had coordinated to send him individual emails questioning his choice to discuss drug use on campus directly after two minutes of silence in memory of late GNLU student and Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access (IDIA) scholar Jumika Yeptho.

Patel told students: “I appreciate you for expressing your sentiments in a candid manner, as you rightly felt, there was no connection between the two matters (Jhumika's demise and wishes/advises). I thank you for your matured understanding.”

As we had reported on Saturday (28 October), Patel had held a 5 to 10 minute speech about the evils of drug use by youngsters during the memorial service for Yeptho, who had died of tuberculosis meningitis earlier in the week.

Students felt that his speech had sullied Yeptho's memory by implying that his death had been connected to drug use, while medical tests conducted on Yeptho when he was admitted to hospital with symptoms such as hallucinations, had ruled out drug use and attributed his symptoms to the advanced stage of the disease that eventually cost him his life.

IDIA had raised funds to pay for Yeptho's treatment, which he was not able to afford due to his limited financial means.

Patel's full email to students sent this morning read:

Dear Students,

I appreciate you for expressing your sentiments in a candid manner, as you rightly felt, there was no connection between the two matters (Jhumika's demise and wishes/advises). I thank you for your matured understanding.

We wish you all the best with your ongoing exams.

Best regards,

Prof (Dr) Bimal N. Patel

Patel has still not replied to our request for comment on Saturday.