New Delhi, IIT Mandi has ordered an inquiry into a controversial Bhagavad Gita-themed poster on its campus that said Shudras should “serve higher classes”, with Director Laxmidhar Behera attributing it to students’ interpretation of the scripture and distancing the institute from its contents.
Behera said he had been away from the campus and returned only on Saturday, and came to know about the controversy on Sunday morning.
In an email to the IIT Mandi community on Sunday, titled “Outright condemnation of recent poster display within campus”, Behera said he was “shocked” to learn about the poster displayed during Janmashtami celebrations on September 4 and stressed that it had not been endorsed by the institute “in any manner”. Behera said the institute was committed to upholding “the values of equality, social justice, scientific temper” and other principles enshrined in the Constitution. “The institute strongly condemns any form of caste based discrimination,” he said in the email, seeking cooperation from the campus community to “stand together against such biases/discrimination in any form”. The poster also carried a verse from the Bhagavad Gita which said the four divisions of human society were created according to the “three modes of material nature and the work associated with them”. The IIT director said ISKCON strongly opposes caste discrimination and teaches equality.
Controversial Statements by IIT Mandi Director
In 2023, IIT Mandi Director Behera urged students to abstain from eating meat, attributing recent landslides and cloudbursts in Himachal Pradesh to animal cruelty. This statement has sparked significant debate. The previous year, shortly after his appointment, a video emerged showing Behera claiming to have helped a friend’s family by chanting mantras to dispel ‘evil spirits.’ These claims have attracted attention and raised questions about his views and leadership.
