CHENNAI: At IIT-Madras’s 61st convocation, Dhananjay Balakrishnan, who won the governor’s prize for outstanding performance in his dual degree in mechanical engineering, used his acceptance speech to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Palestine.
Balakrishnan urged action, stating, “I feel like I would be doing myself, and everything I believe in, a great injustice if I do not use the stage I am presented with to say something important. This is a call for action. There is a mass genocide going on in Palestine. People are dying in vast numbers, and there is no end in sight.”
He criticized the role of STEM fields in geopolitical conflicts, highlighting that technology companies involved in the conflict are implicated in the violence. “As engineering students, we work hard to get top-level jobs at tech giants… Many of these prestigious companies are also directly and indirectly implicated in the war against Palestine,” he said.
Balakrishnan admitted the complexity of the situation but emphasized the need for engineers to understand the impact of their work and work towards alleviating global suffering. He called on his peers to integrate awareness into their daily lives and to address issues of oppression.
The ceremony conferred degrees to 2,636 students, including 444 scholars, with Nobel laureate Brian Kobilka presenting the awards.