National News

IIT Gandhinagar Professor Under Scrutiny For Supporting Separatist Umar Khalid, Hamas Supporters, Here’s How The Institute Has Turned Into A Leftist Den

June 9, 2025
The Commune

IIT Gandhinagar, one of India’s premier technical institutions, is facing mounting criticism over growing ideological radicalization. What was once envisioned as a center of scientific innovation and engineering excellence is now increasingly being called out for political indoctrination, academic bias, and hostility toward mainstream Hindu beliefs.

Professors Under Scrutiny: From Engineering To Ideology

Associate Professor Dr. Amit Arora, a faculty member in the Department of Materials Engineering, recently drew public backlash for his controversial political views shared on social media. Though trained in numerical modeling, additive manufacturing, and friction stir welding, Arora reportedly used his now-deleted X account to support controversial figures such as Umar Khalid—an accused in the 2020 Delhi riots case—and to mock India’s diplomatic actions during wartime. He also appeared to sympathize with Hamas supporters among American students while lamenting Islamophobia.

Critics argue that such behavior is unbecoming of a professor in a taxpayer-funded technical institute and raises serious concerns about the ideological environment being cultivated for young engineering students. 

In one post, responding to a leftist handle that is known to spew venom on traditional Indian/Hindu practices, on the topic of using the name Bharat instead of the name India, Prof Arora replied, “Bharat is their Brahminical, oppressive, and bigoted version of the actual united secular India.” – a very typical reponse by a leftist, Prof Arora proving over and over again his loyalties towards the left by displaying hate for anything Indic or traditional as well as tagging everything as “Brahminical” as is expected of a true-blue leftist.

 

Serious Allegations Of Grooming Culture

Concerns extend beyond ideological leanings. Allegations of inappropriate professor-student relationships, including instances of professors drinking with female students and even marrying them, have been quietly circulating in academic circles. While most lack hard evidence, a few past incidents—such as a dismissed professor from IIT Bombay—have given these whispers some weight. The normalization of such behavior in elite campuses is being viewed with increasing alarm by both parents and academic watchdogs.

Not The First Time In IIT Gandhinagar

In late April 2025, the Humanities Department of IIT Gandhinagar was under the spotlight. You wonder why? For promoting ideologically charged research topics, many of which center around Islamic theology. The situation has sparked national concern, with calls for the Ministry of Education and the IIT Council to investigate the use of taxpayer-funded resources for what critics are calling “ideological indoctrination.”

MA-level thesis topics such as:

  • “Robes of Authority: Sunni Ulama, Sartorial Tradition, and Embodied Piety in Malabar”
  • “Fishing With Faith: Islam, Indigenous Knowledge and Ecological Sustainability in Lakshadweep”
  • “From Gods to Jinn: Ontological Rewriting and the Islamization of Spirits in Kerala”

…have raised eyebrows across the academic and public spectrum.

These projects, approved by faculty members including Nishaant Choksi, Rosa Maria Perez, Madhumita Sengupta, and Sharada Visweswara, have been criticized for veering away from academic neutrality and into religious glorification. Hindu students have alleged discrimination, stating they were discouraged or even threatened when questioning the ideological tilt of the department.

An internal email by Prof. Choksi, warning students of “consequences” for leaking information about these theses, has further fueled claims of intimidation and lack of transparency.

Administrative Silence And Selective Permissions

Adding to the discontent, several students report a pattern of selective administrative decisions that they believe demonstrate institutional bias. For instance, permission for a candlelight vigil in memory of jawans killed in a terror attack in Pahalgam was reportedly denied, while events perceived as sympathetic to the Palestinian cause were allowed in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack.

Diwali celebrations allegedly faced restrictions, while events critical of Hindu beliefs—like readings from Riddles in Hinduism on Mahashivratri—were permitted without issue.

A student group named Awaam has come under scrutiny for its programming, which has included lectures on “Brahminical Oppression of Women” and birthday celebrations for Periyar, a controversial Dravidian leader known for his anti-Hindu rhetoric.

These incidents have ignited a larger debate about the role and accountability of Humanities departments within IITs. Many critics argue that these departments operate with ideological bias, shielded by the label of academic freedom but unchecked by the scrutiny applied to scientific and technical departments. Calls are growing for either the removal of such departments from IIT campuses or their restructuring to ensure ideological neutrality and transparency.

As the debate rages on, one thing is clear: institutions like IIT Gandhinagar must urgently decide whether they remain centers of scientific excellence—or risk becoming platforms for unchecked ideological agendas.

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