I’m still trying to figure out the bizzare behaviour of IIPM in the recent days. The more I think about it, the more I wonder about the role – in this matter – of the perceived status of blogging. Would the same people – at IIPM – have come up with similar uncivilized threats if Gaurav Sabnis had published his views in mainstream media? Would they do it now, with the hindsight of observing the effects of all this on their reputation in the last few days? And does that mean this medium has finally come of age, and found a (collective) voice of its own?
People voicing strong opinions are bound to attract critcism and opposition, irrespective of the medium they choose to air their views in. However, the nature of critcism and the manner of opposition reveals how one party views the other. In the current episode, all the bullying by IIPM shows what they think of Gaurav in the role of a blogger – the perceived status of medium Gaurav used is behind the attitude adopted by IIPM. Is it any wonder, then, that we are all rallying behind him?
Parmanu 
I’m not sure I get what you’re saying. Are you saying that IIPM realized that bloggers were a powerful force, which was why they tried to nip it in the bud by starting all those fake blogs and sending a legal notice to Gaurav? Or did they think that a lone blogger could be crushed just by a legal notice?
Personally, I think the techniques they adopted were ridiculous. I mean, all those fake blogs and personal comments left by “IIPM students” on Rashmi’s post – did they really think they would be taken seriously?
Jasmine: I agree the post is fuzzy. What I had in mind is that:
(1) Blogging is showing signs of growing up : as a medium capable of carrying a voice and reaching the populace, it was considered significant enough by IIPM to send those legal threats. Yet, the medium was not considered strong enough to be able to mount a serious resistance to such pressure tactics (Which has been proved wrong, I think).
(2) What we are seeing here is a power game, with IIPM using their clout as an institution and bloggers getting together as a voice capable of sending a strong message through the online medium. IIPM started with the assumption of dealing with a weak target (hence all the bullying through institutional pressure on IBM and legal threats to bloggers), but now they are on the backfoot (as one can see through the denials of having sent a legal notice to Varna).