CHENNAI: There has been an intensification of threats to academic freedom in India,
said Zoya Hasan, professor and academic at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on
Thursday.
Addressing a conference held at Loyola College on the ‘Re-envisioning higher education
in India’, Hasan stated, “India experienced a speed-up of assaults against academic
freedom, free speech, internet rights and increased online trolling and harassment. It
has all resulted in a perceived erosion of free enquiry typical of a democratic society.”
Hasan stated academic freedom, or the liberty of scholars, teachers to carry out critical
inquiry, to discuss and deliberate on any notion without fear of sanction, censor or
interference, is crucial to knowledge production.
“The trajectory that higher education in India is poised to take is the intersection of neoliberalism and Hindutva ideologies,” Hasan stated.
She also criticized the NEP 2020 and charged that in contradiction to its declaration,
NEP will render education restricted more than ever before within the socially and
economically advantaged elite.
A further speaker and MP Mahua Moitra reported inclusive education continues to
remain evasive in India.
She accused India of having yet to appropriate a proper level of its GDP on education.
MP Derek O’Brien said that India’s Christian community, especially in the field of
education, has been making significant contributions. He also quoted statistics that
said Christian minorities run over 54,000 educational institutions in the country and for
every 100 who study in these institutions, at least 75 obelong to Muslim, Hindu,
Buddhist and Sikh community.
