06-05-2025
IIT-Gandhinagar students slam Right-wing swipes at humanities dept—'attack on integrity of our work'
In several posts going viral on X , accounts have alleged that the department has been trying to promote 'Islamisation' on the campus. The claims deal with student theses, accusing the department of promoting 'minority practices'.
IIT Gandhinagar, a premier Gujarat-based institute, has been in the eye of a storm, with Right-wing activists and anonymous X users raising questions about the theses of the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) department students.
New Delhi: The students of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar have called the online Right-wing narrative around their theses 'baseless', 'unprecedented' and a deliberate misrepresentation of academic work.
Speaking to ThePrint, two students from the HSS department expressed their shock at the sudden scrutiny. The course, by nature, is interdisciplinary, and people from all academic backgrounds are free to pursue their academic interests, one of the PhD students from the department explained to ThePrint.
'We have professors with their area of expertise, and we work with them. Some of us work with topics that might reflect values enshrined in society,' she said, adding that students select their theses as a key component of their curriculum. The topics selected over three semesters undergo a rigorous process under the guidance of supervisors, require many ethical clearances, and then three panel defenses.
'What is happening now is aggression reflected by the broader population on X over a few of the academic topics we selected and defended. These are faceless people we can't engage with. So, we feel quite helpless,' she noted.
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'Prejudice, discrimination, and insult'
The controversy began after one of the X accounts shared a picture, reading, 'IIT Gandhinagar launches India's first AI—Deep Faith'.
In the post, the user wrote, 'IIT Gandhinagar has come up with this unique architecture that will beat ChatGPT & Deepseek through the power of Kerala. It's called Deepfaith. Thank you @iitgn for using your taxpayer-funded 'autonomy' just like our Supreme Court to make this country a better place for us all. AI = Ayatollah's Intellect.'
Raising concerns about the 'Islamisation' of the institute, the user wrote the project will identify 'kafirs' through the fear in their voice, 'even if they memorise kalma'.
After many users reshared the posts, one of the IIT Gandhinagar professors, Nishaant Choksi, wrote an email to students, saying it had come to the attention of the institute that someone was sharing internal emails about project theses in an 'out of context … derogatory, offensive, and potentially dangerous manner on social media'.
The move, Choksi wrote, is a breach of honour code, threatening students found posting the internal emails on social media to the Security and Stability Advisory Committee.
The same X handle shared a screenshot of Choksi's email, and the person behind the post wrote 'scary'. 'After I exposed Islamic idiocy being studied in @iitgn, this is the mail one of the professors, Nishaant Choksi, sent. He talks about an 'Honour code' as if they are running a mafia organisation & demands secrecy in tax-funded research. Like WTF!,' wrote the user, adding that professors are actively 'going' after Hindu students in the backdrop of the 'Islamisation' of the institute.
'… female students are ripe for exploitation under such an environment. How many of these professors are married to students, you think? Just check this professor, and you will know what exactly is going on,' the user wrote, asking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Gujarat minister Harsh Sanghavi to protect Hindu students.
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) Sunday alleged 'ideological bias and cultural insensitivity' at IIT Gandhinagar, citing a controversy over the student theses shared online, demanding action against the 'responsible faculty members'.
In a media statement, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) claimed the incident reflected 'prejudice, discrimination, and insult' to Hindu students' sentiments, accusing the institute of disproportionately focusing on Islam-related topics. The group also called for transparency, student protection, and an impartial investigation into faculty conduct.
'Even academic work is under fire'
Students, however, say the term originated as satire on social media and was, later, misinterpreted as fact.
'They are popularising those terms, as if we are making an AI. And I don't even know what ridiculous things they are perpetuating,' the student said.
According to students, the criticism is not only factually incorrect but also undermines the academic rigour of the department.
'These theses go through rigorous vetting and defence processes. They are available in the institute library for anyone to access,' the PhD student said. 'These accusations are not just false—they are an attack on the integrity of our academic work.'
The student added that claims of religious bias were also misleading. The theses are diverse. 'They cover everything, from economics and literature to linguistics and history. Even the ones that engage with religion are not limited to any one faith.'
When asked whether the incident had left them fearful, the students said the prevailing feeling was not fear. 'It is not fear; it is disillusionment,' said an MA student, who wished to stay anonymous. 'We never imagined that anonymous accounts on Twitter could twist our academic work into something political and malicious.'
Unlike other Indian universities, which have seen political mobilisation on campus, IIT Gandhinagar students said that they mostly stay away from activism.
'We do not have the kind of political culture that exists in JNU or Jamia,' the PhD student said. 'This is just academic work. And now, even that, too, has come under fire.'
The students' only hope, for now, is that the institute and the broader public will recognise the difference between academic inquiry and online disinformation.
'We do not have the platform or power these anonymous accounts have,' the MA student said. 'All we can do is speak the truth and hope it cuts through the noise.'
Mayank Kumar, the associate dean of student development, told ThePrint that IIT Gandhinagar has several departments, with many programmes offered, such as humanities.
'Some students, probably aggrieved with the institute, for some reason, decided to connect with external anonymous social media accounts,' Kumar said.
Kumar further said: 'In case of malpractice in academics, questions could have been forwarded to the concerned head, dean, or director. It could have been raised anonymously within the institute itself through the ombudsman. However, to begin with, the issues raised on social media do not appear to have much connection with the text of the abstract, and therefore, lack academic merit.'
Kumar added that the leaked emails have led to threats of various kinds. 'We hope that the students are able to get back to their academic pursuits at the earliest.'
IIT Gandhinagar is an open culture institute, and the discussion between the faculty, the students, and the staff has, so far, been collaborative.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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