IISc slammed for hosting Israel summit

‘If CV Raman & Satish Dhawan were alive today...’

NT Bengaluru: Students and civil society members protested outside the JN Tata Auditorium in the city on Monday against the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) for going ahead with the ‘India-Israel Business Summit.’ As planned, the summit began by hosting discussions on defence and cybersecurity, two issues Israel has come under the scanner after the killing of 41,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the recent pager explosions in Lebanon.

Madhu Bhushan, independent activist-writer, expressed fierce opposition to the premier institute hosting Israeli linked events. “I feel terrible and ashamed. Institutions like IISc which have produced the finest minds, have now stooped down to hosting events associated with a country linked to genocide. If famed scientists like CV Raman or Professor Sathish Dhawan were alive today, they would have taken a principled stance against this,” she stated, stressing on the importance of ethics in science.

Clifton D’ Rozario, General Secretary of AILAJ while voicing his concerns said: "We are witnessing a genocide in Palestine, with women and children being killed, and yet our institutions are partnering with Israel for business. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has directed states not to engage with Israel on these grounds, and it's deeply troubling that IISC continues to facilitate such events." Prajval Shastri, a renowned astrophysicist, who completed her PhD at TIFR, questioned the institution's ethics: "We must ask ourselves: Are these institutions about creating knowledge for peace and equitable well-being, or are they promoting war and violence?."

Over 1600 petitions were addressed to the Director of IISc, Professor Govindan Rangarajan to stop the programme. Students have expressed disappointment over the institution’s stance on this summit. Civil society activists raised both the Indian and Palestinian flags but the latter was confiscated. The All India Students Association (AISA) claimed they have 'exposed' the registrar, who they alleged, didn’t know such a summit was taking place.