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: November 10, 2025

Attack Types: Killings, Violence, Disappearances

Institution(s):Panjab University

Region & Country:Southern Asia | India

New or Ongoing:New Incident

On November 10, 2025, police clashed with students protesting at Panjab University (PU) over the repeated delay of Senate elections.

Students began demonstrating in the summer of 2025, demanding a schedule for university senate elections that had been delayed for more than a year. On October 28, 2025, protests intensified after the central government announced that it was replacing elected university governing bodies with nominated ones. Although the Ministry of Education withdrew the order on November 7, students continued their demonstrations, calling for a “university shutdown” to pressure the government into announcing a specific election schedule.

During the November 10 protest, students broke through barricades to enter the campus, jostling with security personnel who responded with a lathicharge for crowd control. Police in anti-riot gear were deployed to the campus and clashed with students and community members in an effort to restore order.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about the use of force during a student protest. While state authorities have the responsibility to maintain order and prevent disruption, they must refrain from the disproportionate use of force and endangerment of civilians and must respect the right to freedom of association and freedom of expression. Students and members of the public must refrain from violence, especially on campus, and also respect the right to freedom of association and freedom of expression. Such actions, beyond harming the immediate victims, have a chilling effect on academic freedom.

Sources:
https://www.uniindia.com/protest-at-pu-turns-volatile-traffic-chaos-across-chandigarh-mohali-border/north/news/3637802.html
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/5000-protesters-smash-past-police-barricades-storm-into-panjab-univ/articleshow/125237069.cms
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/chandigarh/pu-protests-heavy-police-deployment-made-as-university-braces-for-shutdown/article70261873.ece
https://sundayguardianlive.com/news/protests-continue-at-panjab-university-despite-rollback-of-order-159867/
https://theprint.in/india/why-panjab-university-row-struck-such-a-chord-a-143-yr-legacy-shaped-by-partition-patronage-politics/2786325/