All humans must be treated equally. That is a moral and constitutional position. It is not a scientific position because science does not carry moral or constitutional authority.
The normative system laid out in the ‘Manusmriti’ expresses the ‘principle’ that the birth of a person says something essential about who that person is supposed to be, with persons born into specific social categories to be assigned a place in the division of labour and a set of permitted relationships and social rights. Modern constitutional thinking is radically different. Per the Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights and the constitutional democracies of today, individuals possess rights that depend on more than their place in a social hierarchy. After all, the fundamental rights of the Indian Constitution are attached to persons and citizens, not to inherited social functions.
Yet a poster that turned up at IIT-Mandi on September 4, 2026 said the role of “Brahmanas” is to “spread god’s message”, that of “kshatriyas” to “protect society and spirituality”, of “vaishyas” to “drive economy, support others”, and of “shudras” to “serve higher classes”.
A Trojan horse has breached the IITs
Can just signature campaigns save scientific temper?
