New Delhi: A flyer for a joint IIT Bombay, UC Berkeley, and UM-Amherst event featuring Indian leaders with the caption ‘We fool you’ went into circulation without the knowledge or consent of IIT-B, the institute has said in a statement, as it distances itself from the controversy.
The flyer, promoting a workshop titled ‘South Asian Capitalism(s)’, also depicted Indian Army personnel and policemen with the caption ‘We shoot you’, drawing widespread criticism on Wednesday after it was shared on the social media platform X.
Facing mounting backlash, IIT Bombay has announced that it is severing its ties with the faculty members behind the workshop, who are affiliated with the University of California Berkeley’s Institute for South Asian Studies and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
According to the flyer, the event is scheduled for 12-13 September.
The poster features an image titled ‘Pyramid of Capitalist India’, a modified version of the century-old political cartoon ‘Pyramid of Capitalist System’, created in the early 1900s to depict class hierarchy under capitalism.
In the new version, businessmen appear at the top rung of the pyramid under the caption “We Rule You”, followed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on the second rung, under the caption “We Fool You”. The third rung features police and Army personnel under “We Shoot You”, while the bottom rung includes farmers and servicemen, among others.
The poster, shared initially by the account @MehHarshil, quickly went viral as sharp comments poured in.
“IIT Bombay sponsors an event on South Asian Capitalism. The poster shows @AmitShah, @narendramodi, and @myogiadityanath with a caption ‘WE FOOL YOU’. No Maulana or Father shown; only a Hindu Monk in saffron robes. Why @iitbombay?” one of the X posts criticising the flyer read.
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What IIT Bombay said
The institute issued its statement on Wednesday night, saying a workshop flyer had come to its attention.
IIT Bombay’s statement has clarified that the event will take place at UC Berkeley, in collaboration with the UM-Amherst.
The New Political Economic Initiative (NPEI)—an initiative of the IIT-B’s Centre for Liberal Education via which the institute collaborates with international universities to organise seminars, workshops with scholars, and even research work—was a partner in the event. The NPEI made the event “free and open for all” to IIT-B students.
Although it was part of the event through NPEI, it was unaware of the flyer issued on social media, the IIT-B statement has asserted.
“We were totally unaware of the published flyer. 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 institute has stressed in its statement.
The institute further noted that the NPEI website no longer carries details of the workshop and that IIT-B removed all references to the event 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,” the institute has stated. “The institute will cease to associate with these faculty members from UC Berkeley and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst going forward. Further investigation into the matter will be conducted.”
On Thursday, the website for the workshop removed IIT-B’s name, and the NPEI website took down mentions of the event.
“The institute is investigating the matter further. Any decision regarding future collaborations will depend on the outcome of this investigation,” a senior official at IIT-B told ThePrint.
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Backlash on social media
The institute faced widespread backlash on social media, with many saying that taxpayers’ money was “being misused”, tagging Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
“Minister @dpradhanbjp, this is very, very wrong. @iitbombay is a public institution, funded by taxpayers. They cannot block any Indian citizen. Please intervene. Why are they scared of criticism?” X user Mohandas Pai posted after IIT-B blocked him from commenting on the controversial flyer.
Former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal reacted in a post on X, questioning, “Why is IIT Bombay organising an event on South Asian Capitalism(s)? There is no such thing as South Asian Capitalism(s).India and others are not capitalist countries as the US is. And so what is the purpose of involving University of Berkeley and University of Massachusetts Amherst in this?Do we need to be enlightened by these far away institutions on capitalism in India? We have no understanding of ourselves? What is IITs interest in learning about capitalism in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka etc? This seems like a political seminar with dubious intent.”
Another X user, Venkara Pingali, wrote: “Painful to see this as an alum and a donor to the institute. Do the faculty at @iitbombay @IndiaDST 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.”
“Sitting govt leaders are being mocked with total impunity at an institution funded with taxpayers’ money, and our left-libbies tell us there is no freedom of speech,” commented another X user, Monica Verma.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
I dont understand why there should be an objection to this poster. It is a point of view which many see playing out in real life. Similar poster have been made about many previous governments. There will always be outrage but a poster is meant to provoke and make you think.
The erstwhile UPA government introduced this Trojan Horse – the idea of setting up Humanities departments at IITs.
Left-liberal woke activists were appointed as faculty in these departments, and ever since, they have been creating mischief. Their goals are quite simple – to create a JNU or Jadavpur University out of the prestigious IITs.