IIT-Delhi initiates probe into conference on caste and race held over a week ago

IIT-Delhi launches investigation into a controversial conference on caste and race after complaints about its content and speakers.

Over a week after a conference was held at the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi on ‘Critical Philosophy of Caste and Race’, the institute has decided to investigate “serious concerns” raised about its “content” and “choice of speakers”, the institute said in a statement on Monday (January 26, 2026).

In its statement, posted at 1:23 a.m., IIT-Delhi noted that the conference was held from January 16 to January 18, adding it had sought an explanation from the “faculty concerned”. The institute stated that it had also established a fact-finding committee comprising “independent members” to investigate the concerns raised about the conference.

Government sources said that the institute had taken cognisance of complaints about the organising faculty, speakers at the conference, and its agenda on social media.

Users on social media criticised IIT-Delhi, calling the conference “woke nonsense”, asking why a “technological institute” was organising such an event at all, when IITs “should be holding discussions about AI”. Some users also took issue with lectures on themes like: “What’s common between Dalits and Palestinians?”

IIT-Delhi Director Rangan Banerjee did not respond to The Hindu’s request for comment. Administrative officials claimed no knowledge of who had set up this probe panel or who its members were.

The conference, which has been held since 2024, was inaugurated this year by former UGC Chairperson Sukhadeo Thorat. This year, the theme of the conference was to discuss “Indian contributions to combating caste and racism” in the context of marking 25 years of the 2001 Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA), adopted at the UN World Conference against Racism in South Africa.