Civil Rights and Democracy
Syed Ahmed Meer, SM ‘61, Martin Luther King Jr, Coretta Scott King, Sucheta Bhagwandas Kripalani, Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani and Jaswant Ganugapati Krishnayya, SM '61 at SNCC training at Morehouse College, Atlanta. Courtesy of Jaswant Krishnayya
South Asian students at MIT in the 1950s and 60s served not only as technological ambassadors, but also created social and political hubs that connected South Asia to the United States of America. In a backdrop of warfare, movements for independence, and nation-building, these men absorbed knowledge and made key connections during their years at MIT that would later assist them in developing their home countries.
In the Summer of 1960, Jaswant Krishnayya SM 1961, who currently serves as the Founding Director of a nonprofit centered around the technological development of India, went on a roadtrip through the American South with Syed Ahmed Meer AM 1961. A few years prior, Krishnayya had attended a speech given by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at Boston University. King’s words, which had a lasting influence on Krishnayya, and the recent traction gained by the Civil Rights Movement inspired him and Meer to embark on this journey.
Jaswant Krishnayya’s father, G.S. Krishnayya, served as an inspector of English Medium schools across Bombay in colonial India and published a popular children’s magazine, Sunshine. G.S. Krishnayya also spent several years in America, paving the way for his son to attend MIT. He was a graduate student at Columbia University and worked briefly at Tuskegee University as part of his dissertation research on models of higher education in historically Black institutions for translation to India. After returning to India, he published a book on his observations of the connections between school and community in Tuskegee, as well as across the American South. The socially conscious ideologies Krishnayya was raised with permeated into his work as an engineer and his outlook on the intersection of STEM and society. He re-traced his father’s journey on his road trip, visiting Tuskegee and Morehouse College, where he met Martin Luther King Jr.
Fig. 1 Title page of G.S. Krishnayya’s book on his education-related studies in the American South. Courtesy of Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad
Syed Ahmed Meer was an Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Master's student when he met Jaswant Krishnayya. Similar to Krishnayya, Meer’s upbringing and family also shaped his identity as a scientist and community activist. Meer’s uncle, who he lived with as a teen, worked with Malcolm X and was very involved in the American Civil Rights Movement. These influences were critical in shaping Meer and Krishnayya's road trip, which was inspired by curiosity and culminated in an important reckoning with the deep-rooted, systemic racism present in the United States.
Krishnayya and Meer’s tour of the South during the summer of 1960 was an ambitious one—neither knew anyone along their path nor had a well-planned route. The two bought a small tent and sleeping bags and slept in national parks or along the road because booking hotels would have exhausted their budget.
The two joined various groups along their journey, including medical students who had successfully desegregated a local coffee shop and young activists at Tuskegee University, where Krishnayya’s father had studied the intersection of school and the Black community in the 1930s. In Alabama, Krishnayya and Meer met leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Following these introductions to local and prominent changemakers, Krishnayya and Meer attended a week-long workshop on nonviolence in Atlanta, Georgia at Morehouse College. This was a historic moment in the history of the Civil Rights Movement in America, as it was the very first training session organized by the SNCC. At this workshop, Krishnayya and Meer met Indian freedom fighters, Acharya Kripalani and Sucheta Kripalani, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Both Kripalanis were close with Gandhi and played key roles in the Quit India Movement. Sucheta spoke of her experiences in the Indian independence movement, which culminated just 15 years earlier, with the men who attended the nonviolence workshop. In her presence and words, she not only facilitated a cultural exchange, but served as a mentor for aspiring and established American activists.
Syed Ahmed Meer in conversation with a Civil Rights activist. Courtesy of Jaswant Krishnayya
This roadtrip left a deep impact on Meer and Krishnayya. In a letter to his friends and family written during the road trip, Meer reflected on the solidarity he felt with the South: “This was the first time I had been so far South since coming from India, and the climate and vegetation were all so reminiscent of that back home”. He also clearly outlined the change in him and Krishnayya during the trip as they morphed from tourists into “traveling reporters.” Both understood the profound changes and challenges that lay ahead in America and in India.
On their return to Krishnayya and Meer wrote letters to the Boston Globe reflecting on their trip to the American South that came at “a historic time in the story of democracy in India and the US.
A year later, Krishnayya wrote a call-to-action to the Boston community and other Northern cities. He urged his peers to support “the intelligent voices of the South” and use their power and position to write to organizations in the South “beseeching them to speak up for simple human rights.” In this letter to the Boston Globe, Krishnayya’s unique position as an immigrant and South Asian whose personal experience in America was not racialized as either “white” or “black” allowed him to craft a convincing argument for why the support and help of the North was crucial to the Civil Rights Movement.
"In order to not create anarchy, non-violent Satyagrapha seems to be the only effective means" -Syed Ahmed Meer SM 1961
Interestingly, Krishnayya’s engagement in the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement came from a place of allyship rather than shared experience. Indians, until about three and a half decades before Krishnayya enrolled in MIT, were considered “white” in America. This was overturned in the landmark 1923 United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind Supreme Court case. Thus, while South Asians experienced racial discrimination in various forms in the 1960s, everyday racism was significantly less pronounced for students like Krishnayya and Meer, especially in the northeast, including Cambridge. However, Krishnayya still recalls being cautious and uncomfortable driving through the South , as they took their seminal road trip to meet with prominent Civil Rights leaders.
" The experiences of Krishnayya and Meer exemplify the intersectional nature of higher education and society. While both men studied engineering and continued to pursue careers in related fields, they remained engaged with activism. Despite our present-day ease of technology-based connection and movement-building, academia is too frequently considered and pursued separately from what is happening in the current world. We, as students, must appreciate and learn from Krishnayya and Meer to dedicate time and energy to learning about and taking action regarding issues and movements happening around us. " - Amulya Aluru 2023, SM 2024, Student Researcher