New Delhi: Days after the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT – Mandi) appointed Prof Laxmidhar Behera as the new director of the institute, a major controversy has broken out over his startling claims that he exorcised his friend’s parents and drove away ‘evil spirits’ by chanting holy mantras. A video clip was posted on the web months ago where he could be seen recalling an incident from 1993.
The startling claims by a person of his stature has left the academia as well as common public surprised & perplexed. His assertion that he exorcised the ghosts from his friend’s parents is something people are finding difficult to digest.
Before being appointed as the director of IIT Mandi, Prof. Laxmidhar Behera was the Poonam and Prabhu Goel Chair Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Kanpur). Regarding his appointment as the new director, Behera stated, “It is a great honour and simultaneously a huge responsibility. I will strive hard for the all-round and holistic development of the institute where culture of excellence will be a norm.”
Behera secured his B.Sc (Engg) in 1988 and M.Sc (Engg) in 1990 from the National Institute of Technology Rourkela and Ph.D. from IIT Delhi.
In the video clip, Behera is heard recalling the time when he visited Chennai in 1993 to help a friend who was in distress as his “family was affected by ghosts.” Behera further stated that he started “practising the thoughts and wisdom in the Bhagavad Gita” as well as chanting ‘Haree Rama Hare Krishna’ mantra to help his friend “demonstrate the potency of the holy name.”
“So I took two of my friends and reached at 7 pm. He was in a research scholar apartment. After 10-15 minutes of loud chanting we suddenly saw his father, who was a very short…person, absolutely old, barely able to walk, and suddenly his hand and leg was…he was creating such a ghastly dance and his head is almost touching the roof. You could feel that he is being completely devoured by the evil spirit,” Behera was heard saying in the clip.
The mother and the wife of the friend were “possessed by the evil spirit,” added Behera. Besides, around “45 minutes to an hour” was required to get them free from the “evil spirit.”
During an interview with The Indian Express regarding the video, Behera stated that “I narrated what I said. Ghosts exist, yes.” He even mentioned that a lot of occurrences and events are beyond the explanation of modern science.
The video was posted on a YouTube page named ‘Learn Gita Live Gita’. However, as soon as the incident came to light, the video was changed to private from the public. Besides, Behera is known to be a “deeply religious person” among his colleagues.
