3 min readJul 23, 2026 01:41 PM IST
First published on: Jul 23, 2026 at 01:41 PM IST
Who is considered a good student in India? Someone hard-working, obedient, and, above all, apolitical? Is politics an arena the ideal student should avoid? Is it a social construct now that the moment students organise, petition, or protest, they cease to be seen as “good”? That they become a problem to be managed rather than citizens to be heard?
My decision to pursue an undergraduate degree at Delhi University in 2017 began with a protest of my own. I argued with my parents, who were understandably anxious about the capital’s reputation for women’s safety. We agreed that I would go to a women’s college — one focused on academics.
Raised in a sheltered home in Kolkata, I, like many of my classmates at Miranda House, was unfamiliar with the language and the culture of dissent. On my very first day, members of a student organisation walked into our classroom to apply tilak, or a ceremonial dot, to students’ foreheads. Sitting in the front row, I instinctively leaned forward. The next second, my professor intervened. “Do you not want to ask what this is for? Who are they, and why should you comply?” I was reminded that I had the right to refuse and protest.
The same year, I joined my first demonstration against a fee hike. My professors stood at the front of the march. Although protesting is a constitutional right, I could never tell my family about it. Something felt wrong, and in my head I could hear them say that pora-shona (studies) and not politics should be my focus.
My time at Delhi University ended not just with a degree in history but with a deeper understanding of dialogue, dissent and democracy. However, those classrooms and professors who encouraged free thought are becoming increasingly rare.
The recent advisory issued by IIT-Roorkee, cautioning students and faculty against supporting political movements without prior permission, is not an isolated case. It reflects a broader unease with student dissent and the steady shrinking of institutions as spaces for democratic engagement.
That discomfort contradicts India’s own history. Student movements in the country can be traced back to at least the 19th century. Students led the freedom movement, resisted the Emergency and, more recently, led protests against the National Register of Citizens and Citizenship Amendment Act (NRC-CAA).
They say that the future of any nation rests with its youth, but if universities stop students from questioning authority, they risk becoming places where obedience is mistaken for education.
Watching hundreds march through Central Delhi over the last few days, demanding accountability for a leaked paper, expressing solidarity with fellow students or seeking justice for a loved one lost to a broken system, I found myself asking again: Who is considered a good student in India?
The writer is a sub-editor with indianexpress.com. nikita.mohta@indianexpress.com
Huge crowds gathered at the Parliament Street–Tolstoy Marg crossing on Wednesday, with the gathering continuing to swell and eventually extending all the way to Connaught Place in New Delhi. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal) 
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