Concerns have been raised over the activities of Brinelle D’Souza, a faculty member at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) School of Social Justice, regarding her involvement in faith-based workshops and political activism.
D’Souza, who joined TISS in 1999, is listed as a faculty member without a PhD and has no publicly available research papers on the TISS website or Google Scholar.
Critics have questioned her academic record in light of her active participation in social and religious initiatives.
In November 2024, TISS reportedly co-organised a workshop exclusively for Catholic participants in collaboration with the “Justice Coalition of Religious” (JCR), where D’Souza served as the West India Regional Coordinator. The sessions were described as training programmes for priests, nuns, and members of the Catholic clergy.
The workshop agenda reportedly included discussions on Church hierarchy, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the National Population Register (NPR), the National Register of Citizens (NRC), cancellation of FCRA licences, and alleged attacks on institutions.
Among the invitees was activist Prasad Chacko, who has previously faced cases related to left-wing extremism filed by the Gujarat government.
Critics have questioned the academic legitimacy of such events and whether TISS funds or facilities were used for religious or political training.
Let’s take a look at what Brinelle D’Souza has been up to.
D’Souza has also been publicly associated with various protest movements. In 2020, she was seen holding a poster referring to “Bhagwa violence” during protests against the CAA and NRC and appeared in an NDTV interview related to the demonstrations.
Speaking to the reporter about why she had joined the protests, she said, “I am Brinelle D’Souza and I am with the School of Social Work. The reason I am part of this protest is because CAB, NRC, NPR, are absolutely unacceptable to us, to me personally, as a Christian faculty, I oppose all 3 interventions by the government. It is discriminatory, it is pitting minorities against minorities. TISS believes in social justice and social transformation. And therefore, in line with the vision and mission of TISS, we are here out in protest.”
After the abrogation of Article 370, D’Souza authored a report critical of the government’s policies in Jammu and Kashmir, describing them as oppressive.
In 2024, she also opposed the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a Christmas event, which drew further scrutiny from observers who cited the Central Services (Conduct) Rules, 2023, governing political expression of publicly funded employees.
The TISS administration has not publicly commented on the matter, and questions remain about whether permissions were granted for such religiously exclusive workshops and whether D’Souza’s actions align with institutional and service rules.
(This article is based on an X thread by Harshil)
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