India, July 30 -- An open letter, signed by over 200 academicians, has slammed Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi for her recent remarks against IIT Madras director V Kamakoti, whom she called "gaumutra (cow urine) expert".

"To dismiss a scholar through a label rather than engage with the substance of his views risks undermining the very scientific temper that our Constitution calls upon every citizen to develop," reads the open letter accessed by HT.

The letter comes after the Wayanad MP criticised the inclusion of the director of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's task force for exam reforms.

The task force is among many measures announced after protests, led by the Cockroach Janta Party, led to the ...