‘Appalled by the decision’: Shashi Tharoor decries DU action on 2 students for screening BBC documentary

A committee, which was set up by the varsity on January 28 headed by DU Proctor Rajni Abbi, recommended the barring of two students – PhD scholar Lokesh Chugh and an NSUI student leader. It also recommended minor punishment for the other six students.

As a @Delhiuniversit alum committed to academic freedom & independence of thought, I am appalled by this shocking decision. To suspend a student for two years for watching a documentary in a democracy is a disgrace & a betrayal of everything a university should stand for. Shame! pic.twitter.com/cpwVLr9OQb

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) March 21, 2023

The screening was organised by students’ groups such as the National Students Union of India (NSUI) and the Bhim Army Student Federation (BASF).

A political student outfit AISA planned a protest Wednesday at the DU Arts Faculty against the barring of two students over the attempt to screen the banned BBC documentary ‘India: The Modi Question’.

“The students (six) should realise what they have done is wrong. They should give it to the administration in writing and parents should give us an undertaking that states that they are well aware of the subject. The university will take a lenient view but they should give it in writing that they should not repeat such things in the future,” Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh Tuesday told The Indian Express.