IIT Mandi makes attendance must for conference on reincarnation, ‘afterlife communication’

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi has made it “mandatory” for first-year BTech students on campus to attend its annual conference on “mind, brain and consciousness”. As per the website of the conference, it includes sessions on reincarnation, “out-of-body experiences and afterlife communication” and “philosophical and scientific theory of jyotisha, with applications to psychology”; jyotisha is astrology. The conference is being organised by IIT Mandi’s Indian Knowledge System and Mental Health Applications centre.

A student from the campus, asking not to be named, said they are being “pushed to participate in such conferences and sessions”. “It is contradictory. The institute in an email communication stated that all BTech first years, BTech and MTech students from School of Computing and Electrical Engineering and School of Civil and Environmental Engineering have to join the conference as its mandatory. But no attendance will be marked.”

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Careers360 had reported on IIT Mandi making it compulsory for first-year BTech students to study courses on “concept of subtle body”, “reincarnation”, and “near-death and out-of-body experience”. The ‘ Mind, Body, and Consciousness’ conference is being held over June 3-6.

IIT Mandi Himachal Pradesh Conference

A student from the campus stated that while similar sessions and conferences have been happening for the past few years, there is a biometric system to mark attendance during entry and exit for this one. “For such conference, the institute has installed at least eight to 10 biometric systems and students attending have to mark attendance during entry and exit,” he said.

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PhD students are also being pressed into attending the conference, which is not related to their research, said another student.

The guest speakers include BK Shivani, representing the Brahma Kumaris; padma bhushan and Indian classical vocalist Ajoy Chakrabarty; Sudhir K Sopory, emeritus senior scientist, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi; Shekhar P Seshadri, former director, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS); Nachiketa Tiwari, professor at IIT Kanpur and also coordinator for World Hindu Congress, and others.