On September 5, 2024, Delhi Police forcibly detained 30 university teachers from Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia University, and Jawaharlal Nehru University who had gathered to protest the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. 

Protesters, led by the Federation of the Central University Teachers’ Association (FEDCUTA) and the Joint Forum for Movement on Education (JFME), planned to march from the neighborhood of Mandi House to a major tourist site. En route, police detained them and brought them to Kapashera Police Station. In a statement, a police official accused the demonstrators of approaching a nearby embassy without permission.

Scholars at Risk is concerned by the detainment of faculty members in retaliation for exercising their peaceful rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly—conduct that is expressly protected by international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. State authorities have a responsibility to refrain from restricting the nonviolent exercise of such rights. In addition to the harm to the immediate victims, the use of arrests to restrict or deter the nonviolent expression of faculty members undermines academic freedom and democratic society more generally.

Sources:
https://www.shiksha.com/news/humanities-social-sciences-teachers-day-protest-teachers-and-students-detained-in-delhi-while-marching-against-nep-2020-blogId-176615
https://dubeat.com/2024/09/08/over-30-teachers-detained-in-delhi-during-anti-nep-protests/#google_vignette
https://www.deccanherald.com/india/delhi/30-teachers-detained-from-mandi-house-in-delhi-during-anti-nep-protest-3178214
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/teachers-to-wear-black-badges-on-sept-5-protesting-education-system/articleshow/113045139.cms