IIT Bombay Cancels Hamas Sympathiser Prof Achin Vanaik's Talk On Israel-Palestine Conflict After Students Oppose

The proposed lecture by Hamas-sympathiser Professor Achin Vanaik on the Israel-Palestine conflict at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has been canceled, Indian Express reported.

Originally scheduled for Monday evening, the event was postponed to Tuesday by IIT authorities. However, students received an email from the Department of Humanities and Social Science on Tuesday, announcing the cancellation of the lecture.

Professor Vanaik's talk aimed to shed light on the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict and the consequences of the recent outbreak of violence.

A group of students from the institute had expressed opposition to the lecture and sent an email to IIT Bombay authorities, requesting the cancellation of Professor Vanaik's talk.

Vanaik, a retired Delhi University professor of international relations, had been the subject of controversy after delivering a speech on 'History and Politics of Palestinian Present' at OP Jindal university in Haryana on 1 November.

It was alleged that he had made anti-Hindu remarks during the speech. Professor Vanaik had clarified that video clips of his lecture were taken out of context.

Expressing his disappointment, he stated, "It is a very important issue and a tragedy of our time. It is disturbing that IIT Bombay canceled the talk in response to students' demands. My views presented in the earlier talk seem to have been distorted."

Expressing solidarity with Palestinian civilians in Gaza, Professor Vanaik made comments that were considered by some to be antisemitic and anti-Hindu while also criticizing the Modi government's stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Calling Hindu dharma foundationally anti-Muslim, he asserted that Zionism is not anti-Muslim; it is anti-Palestinian. Praising suicide bombing, he said, “Understand one thing: it expresses above all the determination not just to kill, but the determination to die.”

During this event, concerns were raised regarding the potential targeting of Hindu Culture, Hinduism, Hindutva, RSS and BJP which reportedly caused discomfort among some students.