Himachal Pradesh landslides due to ‘animal killing’ for food: IIT Mandi director in video

IIT director asks students to vow “not to eat meat” in the video shared and ridiculed online. Last year, he claimed he exorcised evil spirits.

NEW DELHI: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi director Laxmidhar Behera has stirred a controversy by pushing students to vow “not to eat meat” “Himachal Pradesh will have significant downfall if innocent animals are not stopped butchering (sic),” he says in a video being shared widely online.

“To become good human beings, what you have to do? No to meat eating,” Behera is heard saying in the video, and then he proceeds to ask students to vow not to eat meat.

Behera was addressing a student gathering when he made these comments. In a video viral on X, earlier known as Twitter, he can be heard saying, “You are butchering there (in Himachal Pradesh)… the innocent animals. It has a symbiotic association with the degradation of the environment as well. People won’t be able to witness the relation between animal killings and environment but landslides, cloudburst and other natural disasters are effects of cruelty towards animals, he added.

IIT Mandi director video: ‘Collapse is complete’

An X user Rahul Siddarthan wrote: “Is he saying farming animals leads to deforestation? No. He says it leads to cloudbursts.”

Director of an IIT. Why is Himachal having landslides? Because of unplanned construction/deforestation/climate change/all of the above? No. Because of meat-eating.
Is he saying farming animals leads to deforestation? No. He says it leads to cloudbursts.https://t.co/uudBNxWUCO

— Rahul Siddharthan (@rsidd120) September 7, 2023

Other X users have also criticised him for making controversial remarks.

Sandeep Manudhane wrote: “The collapse is complete. These superstitious fools will destroy whatever little was built in 70 years.”

IIT Mandi's Director Laxmidhar Behera claimed earlier that he drove out ghosts using chants.

Now the same chap has claimed that Himachal Pradesh landslides are because people eat meat, causing cloudbursts. Then he forced students to take an oath "I will not eat meat". (yes, he…

— Sandeep Manudhane (@sandeep_PT) September 7, 2023

Scientists Gautam Menon wrote: “In the current dispensation, having views like those of the Director of IIT Mandi featured here is a feature, not a bug. It’s simply said.”

In the current dispensation, having views like those of the Director of IIT Mandi featured here is a feature, not a bug. It's simply sad. https://t.co/4auwFGeyU6

— Gautam Menon (@MenonBioPhysics) September 7, 2023

Also Read | IIT Mandi takes disciplinary action against 72 students for ragging juniors

Last year, the IIT Mandi director had sparked a controversy after a video went viral on social media in he can be heard saying that he was involved in an act of exorcism to rid his friend’s apartment and family of “evil spirits” by chanting “holy mantras”.

Before coming to IIT Mandi, Behera was a professor of electrical engineering at IIT Kanpur. He specialises in robotics and artificial intelligence.

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