IIT Delhi forms panel to probe conference on caste, race

In a statement on social media platform X on Monday, the institute said it had sought an explanation from the concerned faculty and constituted a committee with independent members to investigate the matters raised.

New Delhi:

The three-day conference was organised by the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences from January 16 to 18 (Hindustan Times)

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi on Monday announced formation of a fact-finding committee to investigate a recently held academic conference titled “Critical Philosophy of Caste and Race,” following what it described as “grave concerns” over the choice of speakers and content discussed.

In a statement on social media platform X on Monday, the institute said it had sought an explanation from the concerned faculty and constituted a committee with independent members to investigate the matters raised.

“Serious concerns have been raised over the choice of speakers and content of the conference [Critical Philosophy of Caste and Race (Jan 16-18)],” the IIT-Delhi post stated. “The institute has sought an explanation from the concerned faculty, and a fact-finding committee with independent members has also been set up to investigate concerns raised about the conference,” it added, without detailing the committee’s composition or timeline.

However, it mentioned that “appropriate actions will be initiated...based on the committee’s finding”.

The three-day conference, organised by the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences from January 16 to 18, was framed around the theme “Celebrating 25 Years of Durban: Indian Contributions to Combating Caste and Racism.” It referenced the 2001 World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa.

The introductory note was delivered by Professor Divya Dwivedi of IIT Delhi. Commenting on the development, prof Dwivedi stated the conference was purely academic and held after receiving all required approvals.

“Prior permission was obtained for the conference… The conference is academic in its aim and scope, which is to generate critical thinking on social inequalities – and it builds on existing academic research and publications including mine which can be looked up. The programme for the conference has been in public domain from before the event,” she said.

She confirmed the administration had sought an explanation from her.

The administration has not publicly specified the exact nature of the “serious concerns” that prompted the probe. IIT-Delhi officials refused to comment on the matter. HT’s email sent to the head of Humanities and Social Sciences department of IIT-Delhi did not elicit any response.

Students who attended the conference, speaking on condition of anonymity, described it as a scholarly discussion. “There was no sloganeering... It was purely an academic discussion. Topics like caste and race have been discussed and deliberated before as well,” a first-year PhD student from the department said.

Lecturers across the three-day conference were given on range of sub-themes such as ‘At the Crossroads of Caste, Race, and Gender: Dalit Women at the Durban Conference’, ‘Caste, Desire, and Danger: Pavalabai Bhalerao’s Revolt’, ‘Dalit Rights to Global CDWD: From Naming to Norms, From Norms to Justice’ and Towards Raceless and Casteless Humanism: Understanding the Movements against Race-Caste Power’. Additionally, three books were also launched, including Burnt: Beyond Return (2025) by Basudev Sunani and Chunduru Kathalu (2026) by Sowjanya Tamalapakula.

A day and topic-wise detailed schedule of the conference was shared on the Humanities and Social Sciences department’s website.