IIT Mandi orders probe into poster saying Shudras should ‘serve higher classes’

IIT Mandi has ordered an inquiry into a controversial poster displayed on its campus during Janmashtami celebrations that said Shudras should "serve higher classes". Attributed the content to students' interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita, the institute Director Laxmidhar Behera said the poster was part of a student-led event. He stress that neither he nor the institute endorsed its contents and are distancing the institute from it. Behera and stressed that neither he nor the institute endorsed its contents.

"Some students have interpreted the Gita in some way. I have instituted an enquiry committee. It was a student-based event," Behera told PTI on Sunday, asserting that he and IIT Mandi stood against caste discrimination.

In an email to the IIT Mandi community titled "Outright condemnation of recent poster display within campus", Behera said he was "shocked" to learn about the poster, which was displayed during Janmashtami celebrations on September 4.

He stressed that the poster had not been endorsed by the institute "in any manner".

"I have personally fought against caste-based discrimination in any form in every forum. I have instituted an enquiry committee in this matter such that the institute campus is never used for any such violation of social harmony. I fully empathise with members of our community who have been hurt by this incident," he wrote.

Behera said IIT Mandi 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, urging members of the campus community to "stand together against such biases/discrimination in any form".

According to Behera, the institute has constituted a committee comprising faculty members and representatives from different social categories, including members of the Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes, to examine the matter.

The controversy centres on a poster titled "Bhagavad Gita - The Timeless Wisdom", displayed outside the institute's auditorium. It divided society into Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras and described their respective roles.

The poster said Brahmanas should "spread God's message", Kshatriyas should "protect society and spirituality", Vaishyas should "drive economy, support others", while Shudras should "serve higher classes".

It also carried a verse from the Bhagavad Gita stating that the four divisions of human society were created according to the "three modes of material nature and the work associated with them".

Behera said he had been away from the campus and returned only on Saturday, learning about the controversy on Sunday morning.

"I have not seen the poster. I don't want to take a side here and let the panel decide," he told PTI.

The IIT Mandi director has a longstanding association with the teaching of the Bhagavad Gita and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). His official IIT Mandi profile says he has taught the "universal principles of peace through Bhagavad Gita" to young people for 27 years.

Behera, who is also known as "HG Lila Purushottam Das", is the founder of the proposed Bhaktivedanta University, which describes itself on its website as an ISKCON initiative. He also teaches a three-credit course on the Bhagavad Gita at IIT Mandi.

Defending ISKCON's position, Behera said the organisation strongly opposed caste discrimination and promoted equality.

"ISKCON is the only organisation that strictly and strongly speaks against caste-based discrimination. In ISKCON, pujaris are also from the Shudra community. Muslims are also pujaris," he claimed.

"We are against casteism in all forms. All occupational duties are according to guna and karma," he added.

Behera also pointed to what he described as increased representation of marginalised communities at IIT Mandi during his tenure. He claimed that when he joined the institute, there were no faculty members from the OBC, SC and ST communities and that their numbers had since increased substantially.

An electrical engineering professor specialising in areas including robotics and artificial intelligence, Behera has faced controversy over his views in the past.

In 2023, he asked students to pledge not to eat meat and claimed that landslides and cloudbursts in Himachal Pradesh were occurring because of cruelty to animals.

A year earlier, shortly after his appointment as IIT Mandi director, a video surfaced in which Behera claimed to have helped rid a friend's family of "evil spirits" by chanting holy mantras.

More recently, IIT Mandi's Indian Knowledge System and Mental Health Applications Centre organised a conference in June featuring sessions on the Bhagavad Gita, Ayurveda and reincarnation, among other subjects.

Behera was one of the general chairs of the conference and also co-organised a session titled "Reincarnation, OBEs and afterlife communication".

The inquiry into the poster is now expected to establish how the material was prepared and displayed on the campus and whether any institute rules were violated.