SAR’s Academic Freedom Monitoring Project investigates and reports attacks on higher education with the aim of raising awareness, generating advocacy, and increasing protection for scholars, students, and academic communities. Learn more.

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Date of Incident: August 23, 2023

Region & Country:Southern Asia | Bangladesh

Institution(s):Chittagong University

On August 23, 2023, Chittagong University (CU) Sociology Professor Maidul Islam received a show-cause letter - a court order that requires a party to appear before the court and explain why a certain course of action should not be taken ...

Attack Types: Other

Date of Incident: June 30, 2023

Region & Country:Southern Asia | India

Institution(s):University of Delhi

On June 30, 2023, Indian police reportedly detained the president and secretary of the University of Delhi branch of the All India Student Association (AISA). The detention occurred during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the university during its hundredth ...

Attack Types: Imprisonment

Date of Incident: June 28, 2023

Region & Country:Americas | Canada

Institution(s):University of Waterloo

On June 28, 2023, a philosophy professor and two of her students were stabbed as they attempted to conduct a Gender Issues class at the University of Waterloo.   Professor Katy Fulfer was reportedly teaching the class when a student who had ...

Attack Types: Killings, Violence, Disappearances

Date of Incident: June 28, 2023

Region & Country:Southern Asia | India

Institution(s):Rajasthan University

On June 28, 2023, student activists from Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) and police clashed at Rajasthan University. Police officials detained at least twelve student protestors. The clashes occurred in the context of ...

Attack Types: Killings, Violence, Disappearances | Imprisonment

Date of Incident: June 27, 2023

Region & Country:Southern Asia | India

Institution(s):Various Institutions

On June 27, 2023, Delhi police detained Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists who were staging a protest at the Chief Minister’s residence. According to protesters, the police were deployed to the protest in high numbers and with extra barricades. ABVP ...

Attack Types: Imprisonment

Date of Incident: June 20, 2023

Region & Country:Southern Asia | Iran

Institution(s):Amirkabir University of Technology

On June 20, 2023, Alireza Baradaran Sherka reported on Twitter that the disciplinary committee at Amirkabir University of Technology had expelled him for his participation in the nationwide “Women, Life, Freedom” protests. Sherka, a master's student in aerospace, had been arrested ...

Attack Types: Loss of Position

Date of Incident: June 19, 2023

Region & Country:Southern Asia | Bangladesh

Institution(s):University of Chittagong

On June 19, 2023, members of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of the ruling party, the Awami League, assaulted a student journalist at the University of Chittagong (CU) over a disagreement about his sitting on a chair ...

Attack Types: Killings, Violence, Disappearances

Date of Incident: June 16, 2023

Region & Country:Southern Asia | India

Institution(s):South Asian University

On June 16, 2023, South Asian University (SAU) suspended four faculty members for supporting ongoing student protests that had begun in Fall 2022 against a reduction in student stipends (see report). The suspension of four faculty members, Snehashish Bhattacharya (Economics), Srinivas ...

Attack Types: Loss of Position

Date of Incident: June 16, 2023

Region & Country:Southern Asia | Iran

Institution(s):Azerbaijan Shahid Madani University

On June 16, 2023, the disciplinary committee of Azerbaijan Shahid Madani University in Tabriz issued “final verdicts” suspending 20 students for their support for ongoing protests over the female dress code at Tehran University of Art (see report). The disciplinary committee ...

Attack Types: Loss of Position

Date of Incident: June 16, 2023

Region & Country:Southern Asia | Iran

Institution(s):Tehran University of Art

On June 16, 2023, state security forces violently attacked students peacefully protesting Tehran University of Art’s policy mandating that female students wear the maghna’eh, a black cloth that covers their head, face, and chest. Security forces detained 10 student protesters. The ...

Attack Types: Killings, Violence, Disappearances | Imprisonment