In April 2025, Delhi University (DU) denied Apoorvanand Jha, a professor in the Hindi Department of Delhi University’s Faculty of Arts, leave to speak at a symposium being held by the India-China Institute (ICI) at the New School in New York City. The denial came after Jha refused to submit a copy of his remarks for review by India’s Ministry of Education.
In March 2025, Jha submitted an application to take leave from DU from April 23 to May 1 in order to attend the ICI symposium. Jha was slated to speak on a panel titled, “The University Under a Global Authoritarian Turn,” which was intended to “address the contradictions of academic prestige and academic freedom in contemporary India and China, and to some extent also the United States.” On April 1, DU’s registrar informed Jha that, although his application had cleared three levels of review, it would be sent to the Ministry of Education for review. According to Jha, the registrar told him that this kind of review was unprecedented in his tenure as registrar.
On April 4, DU’s assistant registrar delivered to Jha a communication dated April 2 that requested that the professor submit the text of his planned remarks for approval before his leave application could be processed. Jha refused. On April 17, he received a similar email and again refused. In the end, Jha’s leave was not approved.
Scholars at Risk is concerned about state interference in higher education operations, including decisions about faculty leave and travel. State authorities have a responsibility to refrain from encroaching on university autonomy and should not play a central role in making universities’ academic decisions.
Sources:
https://maktoobmedia.com/india/against-spirit-of-academic-freedom-du-professor-apoorvanand-on-being-denied-leave-for-a-talk-in-us-university/
https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/in-delhi-university-denial-of-leave-to-professor-echo-of-trump-vs-free-thought-in-academia/cid/2094590
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/du-professsor-denied-nod-for-lecture-at-us-institute-calls-it-censorship-9948487/
https://scroll.in/latest/1081421/du-professor-alleges-censorship-as-university-denies-him-leave-to-speak-at-us-institute
https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/news/story/professor-says-delhi-university-wants-him-to-share-new-york-speech-for-leave-nod-2711465-2025-04-19
https://thewire.in/education/delhi-university-professor-alleges-academic-freedom-violation-over-foreign-trip-approval