The Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay), one of the esteemed engineering institutes in the country, has come under the scanner for sponsoring a controversial event targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
The event is a 2-day workshop titled ‘South asian Capitalisms (s)’, which is co-sponsored by UC Berkeley and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
A poster of the contentious workshop was shared on X (formerly Twitter) by columnist Harshil Mehta, which depicted a so-called ‘pyramid of capitalist India.’
One section of the pyramid, which read ‘We fool you’, had caricatures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
New Political Economy Initiative works under Central for Liberal Education, IIT Bombay. It was co-organiser of South Asia Capitalism event.
— Harshil (હર્ષિલ) (@MehHarshil) September 10, 2025
This NPEI is headed by IIT Bombay faculty member and UK citizen Anush Kapadia. He is on Indian government payroll.
This NPEI also got… https://t.co/4oPKN7Tcls pic.twitter.com/evG61oURlA
The free-for-all workshop, which is scheduled to take place on 12th and 13th September, vows to explore how ‘capitalist accumulation is socially structured across South Asia’.
The event is being hosted by the New Political Economic Initiative (NPEI), which works directly under IIT Bombay. NPEI is headed by Anush Kapadia and has received $4 million (~₹35 crore) from the Ford Foundation.
Interestingly, Kapadia is a UK citizen and works as an ‘Associate Professor’ at IIT Bombay.
This is despite the fact that he has written only 2 journal papers in 10 years and has a H-index of just 7 (a measurement of scientific productivity and impact of a researcher’s publications).
How come he is associate prof?
— Ravi_0041 (@Anisotropic_R) September 10, 2025
I mean H-index is only 7. He is in the dept since 2016 and only 9 papers and yet associate prof? @iitbombay @dpradhanbjp @HMOIndia @EduMinOfIndia https://t.co/bojWhkvxbN pic.twitter.com/eoaOu9y5xl
Following the controversy, the Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay) issued a clarification on X (formerly Twitter). It claimed to not know the workshop.
The official handle of the institute alleged, “IIT Bombay has a project related to New Political Economic Initiative. However, we were totally unaware about the published flyer. Upon hearing about this post, we issued immediate instructions to the organisers to take down the flyer from all social media platforms and remove IIT Bombay’s name from everything to do with this event.”
“The details of the programme have been removed from the website of New Political Economy Initiative with immediate effect. No one from IIT Bombay is attending the conference. The Institute was not at all consulted about the flyer. We are deeply shocked and upset by its content,” it added.
IIT Bombay also publicly vowed to sever ties with faculty members of UC Berkeley and theUniversity of Massachusetts-Amherst.
A post regarding a flyer of a workshop on South Asian Capitalism was brought to the attention of the Institute authorities. This workshop is to be held at University of Berkeley in partnership with UC Berkeley and University of Massachusetts-Amherst for young scholars.
— IIT Bombay (@iitbombay) September 10, 2025
IIT Bombay… pic.twitter.com/BhMZV8A4Ds
Soon after, it came to light that IIT Bombay had blocked columnist Harshil Mehta on social media.
He asked, “Why IIT Bombay’s official account has blocked me? Is questioning public institutions and mis governance a crime? This is a public and official account. Then why this childish behaviour? Is defending @narendramodi a crime?”
Why IIT Bombay’s official account has blocked me? Is questioning public institutions and mis governance a crime?
— Harshil (હર્ષિલ) (@MehHarshil) September 10, 2025
This is a public and official account. Then why this childish behaviour?
Is defending @narendramodi a crime? @dpradhanbjp @EduMinOfIndia pic.twitter.com/OfFxPnUvqB
Columnist Harshil Mehta previously pointed out how a faculty member of IIT Bombay named Prabhir Vishnu Poruthiyil, who is essentially on the payroll of the Indian government, published a paper dubbing big businesses as collaborators of fascism.
Prabhir Vishnu Poruthiyil was seen advocating the talking points of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi about ‘wealth redistribution.‘
IITB’s faculty Prabhir Vishnu Poruthiyil claims corporators are collaborators with fascism.
— Harshil (હર્ષિલ) (@MehHarshil) August 14, 2025
He advocates a communist principle of redistribution of wealth.
He was a faculty at IIM Trichy previously.
This what we are teaching to business and technology students. pic.twitter.com/QFW8tWvzgc
OpIndia had earlier highlighted how India’s elite technical institutes are becoming breeding grounds for Marxist-Leftwing ideology
