DU professsor denied nod for lecture at US institute, calls it ‘censorship’
The seminar, on which Jha was to speak, was called “ The university under a global authoritarian turn”.
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Apoorvanand is a professor in DU’s Hindi DepartmentDelhi University professor Apoorvanand Jha, who was to participate in an academic event at The New School in New York, was asked by the DU administration to submit the text of his proposed talk before giving him clearance to attend the event. After he refused, the varsity denied him permission to travel, The Indian Express has learnt.
Jha, a professor in the Hindi Department, applied for leave to participate in the 20th anniversary celebrations of the India China Institute at The New School, scheduled from April 23 to May 1. He said that despite submitting his application more than 35 days in advance, he received a formal rejection from DU on April 2, saying it was “unable to grant permission”. The university also said it needed to seek advice from the Union Education Ministry to grant him leave.
The seminar, on which Jha was to speak, was called “ The university under a global authoritarian turn”.
In a letter to V-C Yogesh Singh, dated April 16, Jha wrote, “I fail to understand what made the university decide to forgo the principle of institutional autonomy and invite intervention of an outside agency, in this case the Union government, in a matter of granting leave to a faculty member.”
“Making submission of the talk is a violation of the principle of academic freedom. It is not in the rule book of the university… To demand from a faculty member the text of his proposed talk amounts to censorship,” he added.
A senior DU official told The Indian Express that the decision to seek advice from the ministry was taken in “light of the international context”. “We don’t usually approach the ministry, but in this case, we thought it would be best to take their advice. We asked him to share a copy of his speech, but he did not,” the official added.
Jha, in his correspondence, also wrote: “The Registrar also made a suggestion to me to share the text of the talk with the administration… It amounted to vetting or censoring my talk…”
He added, “Some colleagues felt the category of leave (Duty Leave) I was applying for might be an issue, as I was not representing the university at the India China Institute event. After the rejection notice, I specifically asked the Registrar if I should change the category of leave and apply afresh. There was no response.”
Registrar Vikas Gupta and V-C Singh did not comment on the matter.
Calling the incident “an example of voluntarily curtailing power/autonomy of the university and making the government the authority for oversight”, Jha warned such practices risk setting a dangerous precedent.
“The University of Delhi became great because it nursed free minds and allowed them to be part of an international community of scholarship… I hope this incident is an aberration…,” he added.
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