The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay issued a clarification regarding its name being associated with a workshop titled "South Asian Capitalism(s)", scheduled for September 12–13, 2025, at the University of California, Berkeley.
IIT Bombay Statement
IIT Bombay stated: “We were totally unaware of 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 institute added that details of the programme have been removed from the New Political Economy Initiative website immediately, and no one from IIT Bombay will attend the conference. “We are deeply shocked and upset by its content,” IIT Bombay said.
The Controversy
A flyer circulated online reportedly linked IIT Bombay’s New Political Economy Initiative as a co-organiser, along with UC Berkeley’s Institute for South Asia Studies and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. The poster, adapting a 1911 anti-capitalist cartoon, depicted a "Pyramid of Capitalist India" with slogans like:
- WE RULE YOU
- WE FOOL YOU
- WE SHOOT AT YOU
It included images resembling Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath under the “WE FOOL YOU” caption, along with a Hindu monk in saffron robes. The flyer sparked widespread social media uproar, questioning IIT Bombay’s alleged sponsorship of an event mocking Indian political leaders.
