IIT cancels lecture by Prof Devy, students seek to know reason

In an email sent out to the students, the authorities reasoned that the cancellation is owing to “unforeseen circumstances”. The move was questioned by a set of students who have planned to gather at the venue around the scheduled time of the event, demanding to know the reason for cancellation.

According to the abstract shared by the institute’s email, the talk was about the challenges of educational institutions with aspects such as lack of infrastructure, adequate funding and genuine autonomy within educational institutions.

It read, “Prof. Devy argues that it is of critical importance that the plight of education institutions and the need to generate knowledge appropriate to India are addressed without any delay. The talk offers a clear picture of the mistakes that have been committed in the past and confronts the present decline of knowledge and education in the country.”
The spokesperson of the institute said that the decision is “as decided by the institute colloquium committee”.

Prof Devy is known for the people’s linguistic survey of India. He has written and edited close to 90 books in areas, including literary criticism, anthropology, education, linguistics and philosophy. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2014 as a recognition for his work with denotified and nomadic tribes and endangered languages. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1993 for his book titled After Amnesia, which was his first full-length book in English published in 1992.

Last year, the IIT-Bombay had cancelled Professor Achin Vanaik’s proposed talk on the Israel-Palestine conflict.