New Delhi: A group of academicians on April 6, Thursday, condemned Delhi University for its action on some students who had participated in the screening of the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India: The Modi Question.
In a letter to the vice-chancellor, 59 signatories, on behalf of the India Academic Freedom Network, requested the vice-chancellor of Delhi University to revoke the punishment given to the students.
They said that “the punishment given [to the students] is disproportionate to the alleged violation” by them.
“We need not tell you that university is supposed to be a space where students and teachers feel free to get information from any source, decide for themselves and express themselves freely. They are adults and can take decisions for themselves. We, teachers and administrators are not here to police their thoughts or censor their sources of information., it said.
“The only condition we all must follow while exercising this right is that it should not promote hatred and violence. But the documentary was only a critical examination of the present regime in the context of the situation of Muslims. How could its screening by some students become a threat to order on the campus is beyond our understanding,” it added.
Two DU students were barred from the Delhi University for a year for allegedly helping in the campus screening of the BBC documentary on the 2002 Godhra riots. They won’t be allowed to take part in “any university or college or departmental examination or examinations for one year from the date of issue of the memorandum”.
In the memorandum issued on March 10, the DU registrar claimed that the BBC documentary India: The Modi Question is “banned”.
However, the Union government had directed YouTube and Twitter to take down links to the documentary. “The documentary was never banned and is still not banned by the government,” said the letter by the India Academic Freedom Network.
Separately, the V-Dem Institute, in its 2023 update to its ‘Academic Freedom Index’, has noted that India is among 22 countries and territories out of 179 in the world, where institutions and scholars enjoy ‘significantly less freedom today than 10 years ago.’
Also read: BBC, Nationalism and a Nation in Denial
Read the full text and list of signatories below.
§
To
The Vice Chancellor,
University of Delhi
Date : 6 April, 2023
Sub: Request to revoke the punishment given to the students who had participated in the screening of the BBC documentary.
Sir,
This is to express our anguish over the news of punishment, of varying degrees, to some students of the university for having screened a documentary produced by the BBC. The memorandum regarding the punishment, as published in the media, states that they had violated the ban on screening of the said documentary by the government of India. We want to bring to your notice and it is known to all that the documentary was never banned and is still not banned by the government. So, the ground for disciplinary action does not exist.
The letter says that the students should have taken permission from the authorities 24 hours prior to any demonstration. It is just possible that this condition was not met by the students. But had they done something so serious that the university should take away from them the right to appear in examinations? Had they damaged university property or caused physical violence?
We need not tell you that university is supposed to be a space where students and teachers feel free to get information from any source, decide for themselves and express themselves freely. They are adults and can take decisions for themselves. We, teachers and administrators are not here to police their thoughts or censor their sources of information. The only condition we all must follow while exercising this right is that it should not promote hatred and violence. But the documentary was only a critical examination of the present regime in the context of the situation of Muslims. How could its screening by some students become a threat to order on the campus is beyond our understanding.
Even if the university authorities felt that their order for prior permission was not adhered to, the punishment given is disproportionate to the alleged violation by the students. Their screening had not caused any violence or disturbance. Had the security personnel not interfered with the screening and stopped it forcefully it would have passed peacefully.
We therefore feel that in light of the facts regarding the lawful status of the documentary and the right of the students to get information and have a free discussion on the campus, the university authorities should withdraw the orders penalising the students involved in the screening of the BBC documentary. It is our duty , as university community to make campus a safe space for the students to engage in critical thinking. It is needless to say that it is not the job of the university to defend the government or disallow thoughts critical to it. We hope that our concern would be heard and the said punishment order would be withdrawn.
Thanking you,
Sincerely Yours
Apoorvanand, Nandini Sundar
On Behalf of
India Academic Freedom Network
List of Signatories:
| Sl. | Name | Affiliation |
| 1 | Apoorvanand | Department of Hindi, University of Delhi |
| 2 | Satish Deshpande | Department of Sociology, University of Delhi |
| 3 | Nandini Sundar | Department of Sociology,University of Delhi |
| 4 | Shahana Bhattacharya | Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi |
| 5 | Bharati Jagannathan | Miranda House, University of Delhi |
| 6 | Ira Raja | Department of English, University of Delhi |
| 7 | Naina Dayal | St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi |
| 8 | Janaki Abraham | Department of Sociology, University of Delhi |
| 9 | Anil Kumar | University of Delhi |
| 10 | C Saratchand | Satyawati College, University of Delhi |
| 11 | Renu Bala | DTF |
| 12 | Rudrashish Chakraborty | Department of English, Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi |
| 13 | Jyoti Sabharwal | University of Delhi |
| 14 | Rupali Bhardwaj | University of Delhi |
| 15 | Abha Dev Habib | Miranda House, University of Delhi |
| 16 | Debjani Sengupta | IP College, University of Delhi |
| 17 | Tanvir Aeijaz | University of Delhi |
| 18 | Sucharita Sen | Jawaharlal Nehru University |
| 19 | Kausik Bhattacharya | Department of Philosophy and Comparative Religion, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, W.B. |
| 20 | Sneha Sharma | Ramjas College, University of Delhi |
| 21 | Neeraj Malik | Indraprastha college, University of Delhi |
| 22 | Imrana Naseem | Professor |
| 23 | Sudipta Bhattacharyya | Professor, Dept of Economics & Politics, Visva-Bharati. |
| 24 | Ambar Ahmad | Kamala Nehru College, University of Delhi |
| 25 | Avinash Kumar | Faculty, Jawaharlal Nehru University |
| 26 | Mallikarjun Sajjan | All India University Employees Confederation |
| 27 | Manas Maity | Professor, Visva-Bharati University |
| 28 | Mallikarjun Sajjan | All India University Employees Confederation |
| 29 | Shikha Kapur | Academic |
| 30 | Dr Para Dholakia | University of Delhi |
| 31 | Rahul Govind | University of Delhi |
| 32 | Sanghamitra Misra | University of Delhi |
| 33 | Bilasini Naorem | Miranda House, University of Delhi |
| 34 | Bharati | Associate Prof (retd) |
| 35 | Nandita Narain | St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi |
| 36 | Vijaya Venkataraman | University of Delhi, University of Delhi |
| 37 | Trisha Gupta | Professor, Jindal School of Journalism and Communication |
| 38 | Ashwini Kumar | DUTA |
| 39 | Girwar Singh | AISEC |
| 40 | Karen Gabriel | St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi |
| 41 | Savithri Singh | University of Delhi |
| 42 | Dr. Uma Shankar | Zakir Husain Delhi College, University of Delhi |
| 43 | Khalid Ashraf | Retired Teacher |
| 44 | Rajni Palriwala | Retd. University of Delhi |
| 45 | Prem Kumar Vijayan | Hindu College, University of Delhi |
| 46 | Dr Rachna Singh | Hindu College, University of Delhi |
| 47 | Pramod Ranjan | Assam University |
| 48 | Harbans Mukhia | Formerly Jawaharlal Nehru University |
| 49 | Poonam Kaushik | Pragatisheel Mahila Sangathan Delhi |
| 50 | Dr. S.K. Chauhan | Hindu College, University of Delhi |
| 51 | Dr. Joseph Tharamangalam, PhD. | Mount St.Vincent University, Halifax, Canasa. |
| 52 | Sanjay Kumar Misra | Department of English, R.B.S. College, Agra |
| 53 | Satyam Varma | Rahul Foundation |
| 54 | Pramod Yadava | Superannuated Professor |
| 55 | Nisha Biswas | Feminists in Resistance |
| 56 | Rohan D’Souza | Kyoto University |
| 57 | Shamsul Islam | Former faculty University of Delhi (Satyawati College) |
| 58 | Walter Fernandes | NESRC |
| 59 | Ghanshyam Shah | Retired Prof. Jawaharlal Nehru University |