Laxmidhar Behera, director of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) located in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, while calling on the students to take a oath not to eat meat, claimed that due to cruelty to animals, incidents of landslides and cloud bursts are taking place in the state.
This statement of his has created controversy.
Addressing the students, Behera said, “If we keep doing this, Himachal Pradesh will further deteriorate… You are killing animals there… innocent animals. It also has a symbiotic relationship with environmental degradation…which you can’t see right now but it’s there.”
A video of Behera has been circulated on social media. Behera said, ‘Frequent landslides, cloud bursts and many other things are happening, all these are the effects of cruelty to animals…people eat meat.’
He said, ‘To become a good person, what should you do? Stop eating meat.”
He called upon the students to take a oath not to eat meat.
Netizens criticized his statement. There has been no response from Behera on this controversy.
Entrepreneur and IIT Delhi alumnus Sandip Manudhne said on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), ‘The decline is complete. Whatever was built in 70 years, such superstitious fools will destroy it.
Biophysics professor Gautam Menon described Behera’s statement as extremely sad.
This is not the first time Behera’s comments have sparked controversy.
Last year, he was in the news when he claimed that by chanting mantras he had freed one of his friends and his family from evil spirits.
