The Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IIT-Gn), already in the spotlight over controversies involving its faculty, has dismissed professor Ashish Xaxa from service.
The institute revealed this information in response to an RTI query, confirming that Xaxa has been “relieved of service.”
It is worth mentioning that OpIndia had shed light on the activities of Dr. Ashish Xaxa through a report in May 2025. He has been very active on social media and had made several controversial posts which raised questions about the conduct of IIT professors. After that, he deactivated the account. However, the account was reactivated later.
On social media, he is always seen reposting posts of Congress leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi etc. Pro-Palestine posts were also posted from his handle. He also keeps reposting posts of people like Mohammad Zubair and Dhruv Rathi.
In one post, he tried to instigate the people of India by saying that people need to take to the streets to reclaim democracy.
This professor has a special hatred for Gujarat. Recently, he had made some posts in which he had abused the state and its people. At one point, he had called Gujarat a ‘hellhole’ and at another, he had said that Gujarat is a ‘scam society’. At one point, he had said that Gujarat is a mine of corruption. In one post, he had also commented that ‘Gujarat is synonymous with disaster’.
Ashish Xaxa even reposted a post, in which two publications were posted – Colonizing Kashmir and Colonizing Palestine – and urged people to read them. The ex-professor was clearly implying that India has ‘colonized’ Kashmir.
In another one of his X posts, he wrote, “If not Rahul Gandhi, then who else?”, looking at the Congress scion as India’s saviour.
In one post, a user mocked Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and wrote – How can she be asked to resign? Tell her that India is an ‘Onion of States’. This post has also been reposted by the ex-professor.
An internet user also accused the professor of behaving in an inappropriate manner with him and then blocking him. This post has also gone viral.
While trying to find out more about him, it was discovered that some of his papers have also been published in other countries. The latest publication is from the year 2025. The article titled ‘Covid-19 and the Indigenous Migrants Question in Urban India’ was published in ‘Governing the Crisis: Narratives of Covid-19 in India’ published from London.
In his article, Ashish Xaxa wrote about the problems faced by workers working in other states due to the sudden outbreak of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. Initially in the piece, the death rate was said to be high due to lack of adequate medical facilities, poverty and water problems and lack of enough doctors, but INDI coalition-ruled states like Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh were highly praised. Apart from this, INDI Alliance leaders like Hemant Soren and Bhupesh Baghel were also highly praised for their handling of Covid irresperctive of the situation in the state.
Looking at the facts, all states were making efforts during the pandemic, setting aside other concerns to focus on Covid management. Highlighting only one or two states creates a biased narrative that may not be obvious at first. The article even claimed, citing “sources,” that Hemant Soren personally oversaw these matters — but does that mean the other Chief Ministers did nothing?