To,
The Hon’ble Prime Minister of India,
Prime Minister’s Office, New Delhi
CC: Minister for External Affairs, Minister for Science & Technology, Minister of Education, Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA), Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), and Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST)
Subject: Expression of Strong Objection to TIFR, HBCSE, ICTS, NCRA, CMI, etc. Faculty Misusing the IOAA Platform for Political Activism – Suspension of Israel
Respected Sir,
We, ~300 members of the STEM fraternity, largely based in India, wish to record our serious concern and strong objection to the conduct of certain Indian academics during the recent International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) in Mumbai, inaugurated by you on 12th August. These faculty members belong to prestigious research institutes of India, such as the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE-TIFR), the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS-TIFR), the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA-TIFR), and the Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI, Chennai). Around 500 members participated in this meeting, and it now appears to us that a scientific forum has been converted by some of the participants into a geopolitical exercise, to embarrass the Government of India in its relations with the State of Israel.
This prestigious Olympiad was envisioned as a celebration of science, youth talent, and international collaboration under India’s leadership. Instead, a group of academics — namely Aniket Sule, Alok Laddha, Ashoke Sen, Nissim Kanekar, Suvrat Raju, Sandip Trivedi, Ravinder Banyal, and Ronak Soni, possibly with others — hijacked this platform to advance an ideological agenda that has no place in serious academic discourse. In particular, they initiated a campaign for the suspension of Israel as an official participant in the IOAA, while cloaking their political activism as genuine academic activity. All this is deeply unfortunate in the context of our excellent relationship with Israel in the science and technology field.
The exclusion of Israel from the Olympiad violates the principle and scientific spirit that shape younger minds. These actions represent a dangerous precedent and must be dealt with firmly. This is nothing short of a grave misuse of a national and international stage. Their actions have had the following damaging consequences:
- Deliberate embarrassment of the Indian government: At an event inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India, these faculty members used their influence to push a selective political resolution targeting Israel, thereby indirectly targeting India’s diplomatic stance and embarrassing the nation before the global community.
- Gross overreach of academic mandate: Faculty at publicly funded institutions are entrusted with the duties of teaching, mentoring, and advancing science. To our mind, they have no authority to interfere in matters of India’s foreign policy or to use academic events for political agitation.
- Erosion of India’s global image: By politicizing a scientific Olympiad hosted on Indian soil, they created the damaging impression that India endorses such activism. This risks undermining India’s credibility as a neutral, responsible host of international scientific and cultural events. This effort has completely overshadowed and sidetracked our aspiration of becoming Vishwaguru.
- Jeopardizing strategic national interests: India’s carefully nurtured relations with Israel and the broader international community are of immense strategic value in scientific collaborations. Irresponsible, ideologically driven activism by a handful of individuals must not be allowed to compromise these ties.
In light of this, we request urgent intervention from the government:
- Please take strict and appropriate action against the named faculty members for misusing their positions and damaging India’s global standing.
- Please request the Directors of TIFR, HBCSE, ICTS, IIA, NCRA, CMI, etc., to explain why such activities were permitted under their leadership. Directors of national institutes are expected to serve the country’s policy and not encourage faculty activism that harms India’s interests (even if it resonates with their individual ideology).
- Kindly request the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) to clarify how such conduct was allowed in publicly funded institutions, and what corrective steps are being taken against those involved.
- Please establish clear binding guidelines to ensure that events of national and international importance hosted under India’s banner remain apolitical and aligned with national policy, and are not hijacked by individuals for personal or ideological purposes.
The education system in India is at a crossroads, and many faculty in Central government institutions remain strongly committed to an older political line that has long since given way to a new paradigm, which sees our country as a new, aspirational, and progressive Bharat. Unless these elements and the causes they uphold are nipped in the bud within a swift timeframe, all your exhortations to us scientists that we actively take part in nation-building will not be effective. Vested interests, as represented by the individuals named above and many others like them, will continue to hold our S&T system to ransom.
We fully support academic freedom in research and teaching. However, academic freedom does not extend to misusing national platforms to attack India’s foreign policy and national interests. We place our trust in your leadership to ensure accountability, to prevent such incidents from recurring, and to protect India’s hard-earned reputation as a global leader in science, education, and diplomacy.
Over 300 academics signed the letter.
With highest respect,
Prof. Ramesh G (IIM-R), [one of the organizers]
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
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- Letter to PMO: IOAA Platform misused for anti-Israel activism - August 30, 2025
