By Malik 
Mumbai, September 10, 2025: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has issued a clarification denying any association with an upcoming event titled “South Asian Capitalism”, scheduled to be held at the Institute for South Asia Studies, UC Berkeley, from September 12, 2025.
The controversy erupted after a poster for the event, which allegedly featured political caricatures resembling top Indian leaders, went viral on social media. The flyer also named IIT Bombay as one of the organisers, sparking widespread criticism online.
IIT Bombay Issues Statement
In an official statement on X (formerly Twitter), IIT Bombay clarified that while the institute has a project under the New Political Economy Initiative, it was completely 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 statement read.
The institute further added that the details of the programme have been removed from the New Political Economy Initiative website, and that no one from IIT Bombay will attend the conference.
Poster Content Triggers Backlash
The controversial flyer, titled “Pyramid of Capitalist India,” depicted:
- Top row: Business tycoons with the caption “we rule you”
- Second row: Caricatures resembling ruling party leaders with the caption “we fool you”
- Third row: Security personnel with the caption “we shoot at you”
- Bottom two rows: Middle class and working class, captioned “we work for all” and “we feed all”
The depiction drew sharp reactions, prompting IIT Bombay to state that it was “deeply shocked and upset by its content” and would cease collaboration with the concerned faculty members from UC Berkeley and University of Massachusetts-Amherst going forward.
What’s Next
IIT Bombay has confirmed that it will conduct an internal investigation into the matter to ensure such incidents do not occur in the future.
Meanwhile, UC Berkeley has not yet responded to requests for comments on the controversy.