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IIT Roorkee responds to viral dance video controversy: ‘Misleading content’

IIT Roorkee has released a statement on “misleading content” being circulated on social media with the intent of tarnishing the institute’s reputation.

Published on: Sep 15, 2025, 12:01:24 IST
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IIT Roorkee has released a statement on “misleading content” being circulated on social media with the intent of tarnishing the institute’s reputation. Although the statement did not explicitly say so, a video of an IIT Roorkee student dancing at a college fest had sparked off a storm of criticism recently.

IIT Roorkee is one of India's most prestigious engineering colleges. (Sidbij / Wikimedia Commons)
IIT Roorkee is one of India's most prestigious engineering colleges. (Sidbij / Wikimedia Commons)

The statement was likely referring to the controversy generated by the video, social media users concluded.

IIT Roorkee’s statement

In a statement dated September 14 and shared on the official X account of IIT Roorkee, Media Cell In-charge Sonika Srivastava said the institute strongly disapproved of the misleading content being circulated online to tarnish its image.

It further warned that legal action could be taken against anyone spreading “false information”.

Read the statement in entirety below:

It has come to our notice that misleading content is being circulated on social media with the intent to tarnish the reputation of the Institute. IIT Roorkee strongly disapproves of such actions.

The Institute cautions that it reserves the right to initiate FIRs and pursue legal: proceedings against any individual or group involved in spreading defamatory or false information.

IT Roorkee remains committed to the highest standards of professional ethics, institutional integrity, and academic excellence.

Social media users concluded that the institute was referring to the viral video which shows a student dancing to Jalebi Bai. A section of the internet had earlier criticised the dance as inappropriate.

More about IIT Roorkee

IIT Roorkee was established in 1847 as the Thomason College of Civil Engineering and later converted into an IIT in 2001. It is one of the “Old IITs” – a term used to describe the first seven Indian Institutes of Technology.

The institute is located in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, with a campus spread across 365 acres. It is considered one of the top engineering colleges of the country.

  • Sanya Jain
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Sanya Jain

    Sanya Jain is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times Digital. She has nearly a decade of experience in covering offbeat stories that speak to the everyday experience - from viral videos to human interest copies that spark conversation. Her interests stretch across business, pop culture, social media trends, entertainment and global affairs. Before joining Hindustan Times, Sanya spent two years with Moneycontrol and five years with NDTV. She holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and a master’s in journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai. Sanya has a sharp eye for spotting emerging trends and looking for newsworthy angles to elevate viral posts into meaningful narratives. She was the first one, for example, to cover Narayana Murthy’s remark on 70-hour work weeks that sparked a national conversation. She is equally at ease writing about business leaders as about the common man, about issues of national importance and memes that amuse social media. Sanya enjoys speaking with content creators, newsmakers and entrepreneurs to transform everyday moments into engaging, slice-of-life stories that resonate with readers. When she is not working, Sanya can be found curled up with a good book. Born and raised in Lucknow, she has spent the last several years in Delhi. She is deeply interested in animal welfare and now spends a lot of her time running after her destructive orange cat.Read More

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