IIT Bombay courted controversy on Wednesday after posters for an upcoming workshop went viral for all the wrong reasons. Flyers for the two-day event had adapted a historic anti-capitalist cartoon — depicting a ‘pyramid of capitalist India’ that included caricatures of leading Indian politicians. The university has since distanced itself from the controversy amidst strong public backlash for its role as ‘co-organiser’.
The now-viral poster advertised a two-day workshop on “South Asian capitalism” that was being co-presented by IIT Bombay. It began with a sketched-out “pyramid of capitalist India” with a large bag of money at the top. Slightly lower on the pyramid stood three figures dressed in the likeness of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
“We fool you,” added the caption next to them.
What did IIT Bombay say?
The institute however insisted that it had been “totally unaware” about the controversial flyer and indicated plans to conduct an investigation. It also said that no IIT Bombay students were attending the conference. A statement released via social media added that it would also “cease to associate with these faculty members from UC Berkeley and University of Massachusetts-Amherst”.
“Upon hearing about this post, we issued immediate instructions to the organisers to take down the flyer from all social media platforms and remove IIT Bombay’s name from everything to do with this event. The details of the programme have been removed from the website of New Political Economy Initiative with immediate effect. No one from IIT Bombay is attending the conference. The Institute was not at all consulted about the flyer. We are deeply shocked and upset by its content,” it added in a social media statement.
Netizens outraged
“Painful to see this as an alum and a donor to the institute. Does faculty at IIT Bombay think that the longest serving PM is fooling people, and the Army is an oppressive force? Humanities departments are now adding net negative value to society,” fumed one X user.
“How is this brazen depiction even acceptable? Are they going to behave like it was just ‘coincidental’ or a ‘likeness’? This is mischievous propaganda!” added another.
Aarin Capital Chairman Mohandas Pai also tagged Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to flag the situation after IIT Bombay blocked the X user who had first highlighted the flyer issue.
“This is very very wrong. IIT Bombay is a public institution, funded by taxpayers. They cannot block any Indian citizen. Please intervene. Why are they scared of criticism?” he asked.