Freefall In India’s Academic Freedom Ranking Is Reflected in Cancelled Lectures at IIT Bombay & Elsewhere
Aarefa Johari | 10 October 2024 | Article 14
Environmental protection. An ongoing war. The education system. Urban unemployment.
These might seem like ordinary topics of discussion at a university or higher educational institution, but at the Indian Institute of Technology–Bombay (IIT-B), lectures on these subjects—and the guest speakers slated to deliver them—have proved contentious in the past year.
Since November 2023, the IIT-B administration has cancelled guest lectures by at least four prominent intellectuals and experts, including environmentalist and historian Ramachandra Guha and cultural activist Ganesh Devy. In three cases, the events were called off at the last minute….