Chennai: IIT Madras student Dhananjay Balakrishnan, who received governor’s ‘Best Student’ prize at the institution’s 61st convocation Friday, accused the tech giants of being complicit in Israeli genocidal war against the Palestinians.
“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 visible end insight", he said the jam-packed IIT Madras auditorium.
(But) why should we bother by this one could ask, he asked and then replied:
“Because STEM as a field in itself has historically been used to advance the ulterior motives of the imperialist powers such as Israel.”
STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
“As engineering students we work hard to get top level jobs at tech giants who offer very lucrative payments and benefits. However these tech giants control various aspects of our life today as you know better than anyone”, Dhananjay said in his award acceptance speech to a round of applause.
“Many of these prestigious companies are all directly or indirectly implicated in the war against Palestine… Providing the state of Israel with technology. Technology which is used to kill”, he said.
Dhananjay also warned the fresh graduates to be aware of the misuse of the technology and its exploitation by tech giants.
“There is no easy solution to this and I don’t have all the answers. But I do know this. As engineers graduating into real world it is our job to be aware of the consequences of the work we do. And also to interrogate our own position in these complex systems of power imbalance”, he said.
Dhananjay also urged the fresh graduates to become ambassadors of change and take hard decision howsoever hard these decisions may be.
“I hope that we can incorporate this awareness more into our daily life attempting to understand what we can do to liberate the oppressed on lines of castes, creed, class and gender. I believe this is the first step to curb the never ending cycle of sufferings”, he said.
“Inaction is complicity and I hope you, I and all of us can take action to make the right decision howsoever hard they might be”, he concluded his award acceptance speech to another round of applause.
As Dhananjay Balakrishnan highlighted the Palestinian issues at the IIT Madras convocation, thousands of miles away in The Hague, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), called the Israeli control over the Palestinian lands “illegal occupation”.
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IIT Madras @iitmadras student Dhananjay Balakrishnan, who received governor’s #BestStudent prize at the institution’s 61 convocation Friday, accused the #techgiants of being complicit in #Israeli #genocidal #war against the #Palestinians. pic.twitter.com/AbCH6uxQ5H
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The ICJ in its landmark verdict also ruled that the Palestinians living under illegal foreign occupation have the right to self-determination.
To strengthen its illegal occupation of the Palestinian lands, the Zionist regime has systematically encouraged settlements. The ICJ in its verdict Friday also called the Jewish settlements in West Bank and other Palestinian lands illegal.
During its occupation of Palestinian lands since 1948, the Zionists have unleashed multiple wars killing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
In the latest was which began on October 07, 2023 and termed a textbook case of genocide by global academicians, the Israeli Occupation Forces have killed close to 39,000 Palestinians –over 80% of the women and children.
In the war which is going on since 288 days the occupation forces have also destroyed – partly or completely, more than 60% of Gaza infrastructure which included hospitals and medical facilities, mosques and churches, schools and colleges, and also the refugee camps and shelter homes.
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