IIT Roorkee warns students against showing ‘political affinity’ to movements ‘like current one’

The Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, on Monday warned students and employees against showing their “affinity with political movement like the one currently in public utterance and in public criticism”, The Indian Express reported.

In an advisory, the institute “politely reminded” students and employees that, under its notified conduct rules, they could not participate in political discussions or activities without permission.

It also said that they could not make statements or express opinions in the media or in public that were capable of “embarrassing the relations between the institute and the Union government or other organisations”.

Purported screenshots of the advisory were widely shared on social media, including by Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra.

And @iitroorkee our money funds you. Don’t you DARE tell our kids to forego their constitutional right to free speech & protest. Retract this email & apologise. Students ignore these bootlickers. pic.twitter.com/RwsSu13MyE— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) July 21, 2026

The advisory came on the day the Cockroach Janta Party led a protest march to Parliament demanding Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation over the alleged mismanagement of competitive examinations. Security personnel fired tear gas shells and carried out a lathi-charge to disperse protesters after they attempted to march towards Parliament. While the police stopped protest leaders from proceeding, some demonstrators moved closer to...

Read more