Apoorvanand | 21 August 2023 | The Wire

In perhaps the first of its kind, the academic community of an Indian university – that too a private one – is prepared to go on strike for the cause of academic freedom. It should be regarded as a significant moment in the history of higher education in India as academic freedom has never been an issue important enough for teachers or students to take this extreme step of halting their work.

We did not see teachers and students of the Jodhpur University organising a strike when Rajshri Ranawat, an English teacher, was suspended for holding a seminar and inviting scholars like Nivedita Menon. She had to fight a battle on her own against her suspension. Similarly, the academic community of the Central University of Kerala did not make the suspension of Gilbert Sebastian an issue. He was penalised for teaching a class on fascism. Neither have we heard any action from the teaching community of the institute of Kolhapur, which sent Niranjana Desai on leave for telling her students that rapists could be from any community. We have also not heard about any protest for the faculty member of the Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce who was arrested and suspended for a talk he gave in his class.

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