A video featuring Laxmidhar Behera, the director of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi, has gone viral on social media. In the video, Behera suggests a connection between killing animals for meat consumption and environmental disasters, specifically mentioning landslides and cloudbursts in Himachal Pradesh.
Addressing students in an auditorium, Behera stated, “Butchering innocent animals has a symbiotic relationship with the degradation of the environment.” He went on to claim that although people may not currently see the environmental impact of meat consumption, they will witness it soon, adding, “It already has an impact. Landslides, cloudbursts that you see again and again, these are all effects of (animal) cruelty.”
The undated video, initially uploaded on YouTube, gained widespread attention after being shared on social media platforms, particularly X (formerly Twitter).
Before linking cloudbursts to animal cruelty and meat consumption, Behera asked students what they believed were the actions required to become “good human beings.” He posed the question, “To become good human beings, what do you have to do? No to meat-eating! Yes or no?” He then encouraged students to chant “no meat-eating” before continuing with his speech.
Himachal Pradesh, a hill state in India, experienced severe devastation during the monsoon season from July to August, including cloudbursts, flash floods, and landslides. These natural disasters resulted in approximately 250 casualties in the state. The Public Works Department reported significant losses amounting to Rs 2,913 crore due to the monsoon-related incidents.
