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. Starting July 1, 2026, SAR no longer publishes reports for the incidents that it records. SAR continues to monitor and record incidents that will be used in the annual Free to Think report. This page provides a record of incidents reported up to that date. Learn more about the Academic Freedom Monitoring Project.

Date of Incident: September 27, 2024

Attack Types: Killings, Violence, Disappearances | Imprisonment

Institution(s):University of Delhi

Region & Country:Southern Asia | India

New or Ongoing:New Incident

On September 27, 2024, police beat and detained Shakreyar Khan, a law student and former state president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal student wing, while attempting to disperse a group of students who had gathered near a polling booth at Delhi University (DU). They also detained Annan, a member of the National Students’ Union of India, as well as a professor.

The arrests happened in the context of elections for the DU Students’ Union. On the evening of September 27, after voting had ended, police were ordered to disperse students from all political parties who were gathered near the polling booth. When police arrived, Khan and Annan were standing with a group of students approximately 200 meters away from the election venue.

Police began to beat the students with the batons, prompting Khan to intervene. He requested that the police stop and speak respectfully to the students, Manoj Mina, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, ordered officers to catch and beat him. Two to three officers dragged Khan 200 meters away, shouted anti-Muslim slurs at him, and kicked him until he lost consciousness. Police then took Khan into custody, along with Annan and a professor after they tried to intervene.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about the detention of two students and a faculty member in retaliation for their peaceful exercise of the rights to freedom of association and freedom of assembly – conduct which is expressly protected by international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. While state authorities have a responsibility to maintain safety and order, they also have an obligation to refrain from restricting nonviolent expressive activity. In addition to the harm to the immediate victims, detentions aimed at restricting students’ freedom of expression, association, and assembly undermine academic freedom and democratic society generally.

 

Sources:

https://thewire.in/rights/muslim-student-leaders-say-police-detained-abused-them-with-communal-slurs-during-du-elections
https://5pillarsuk.com/2024/10/01/india-police-accused-of-islamophobic-attack-on-muslim-students/
https://theobserverpost.com/this-is-about-my-dignity-as-a-citizen-delhi-law-student-claims-assault-use-of-islamophobic-slur-by-police-amid-dusu-elections/