The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has cancelled a scheduled lecture by Professor Achin Vanaik on Israel-Palestine. The talk was initially set for Monday night, November 6. However, it was postponed to Tuesday, November 7, only to be cancelled later.
Vanaik is a retired professor of international politics at Delhi University. He was expected to delve into the background of the Israel-Palestine issue and discuss the implications of the recent wave of violence.
Though a group of students at the institute raised objections to the seminar. They sent an email to the IIT-B officials, requesting the cancellation of the talk. They urged the institute to establish stringent guidelines to prevent such events in the future.
This is not the first time Professor Vanaik's talks have stirred controversy. On November 1, he delivered a lecture on the "History and Politics of the Palestinian Present" at a private institution in North India. The talk was criticised for allegedly containing anti-Hindu sentiments.
In a report by the Indian Express, Professor Vanaik reacted to the cancellation of his talk at IIT Bombay and expressed his disappointment. He stated, "It's a tragedy of the modern era and a very important issue." He found it troubling that the institute cancelled the lecture in response to student demand and felt that his views presented in the earlier talk had been misinterpreted.
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