Not isolated, academics say of IISc controversy

Faculty from across top institutes in Bengaluru say space for free speech and dissent is shrinking. Most speak anonymously

The cancellation of a talk on Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act by IISc is symptomatic of a growing climate of fear on Indian campuses, many academics say.

A media studies professor says the IISc incident is not isolated, and campuses are becoming “sanitised”. He cites the case of Aakar Patel, journalist and activist, who was “sort of” kept out of college lectures in 2016. The Bengaluru police booked Amnesty International India, which Patel was heading then, under various IPC sections, including sedition, for organising an event where some Kashmiris allegedly raised secessionist slogans.

“We were scared to call him over as it could be seen as an act against the government. I did invite him later but only for classroom lectures,” he says.

A year later, when journalist and critic of right-wing politics Gauri Lankesh was killed, some colleges held a remembrance event while others didn’t, fearing they could be seen “as siding with her ideology”, he says.

S Japhet, former vice-chancellor (VC) of Bengaluru City University, feels the degree of freedom that academia enjoys in India is closely linked to the “political dispensation” and also to “the person heading a university”. “They must be committed to Constitutional values and academic excellence,” he says.

“I became the VC in 2016. I faced no problems in the first two years of my tenure. I invited (historian) Ramachandra Guha, (activist-educationist) G Haragopal, and (playwright) Girish Karnad, who were branded urban naxals, for talks. But with the change of political regime, I did face certain pressures. I was indirectly cautioned to not hold such discussions or invite such people,” he says.

But Japhet says he did not cave in and he continued to provide space to reflect on human rights issues and conduct seminars on topics like the New Education Policy.

A college student agrees that the ethos of faculty members matter. He says, “Teachers of our media department are liberal. They even screened the ‘banned’ BBC documentary on PM Narendra Modi behind closed doors, and we discussed it over three classes.”

Conversely, if the head of an institute has an ideological leaning, the inner workings on a campus can potentially have different “vibes”, says Chandan Gowda, professor at the Institute for Social and Economic Change.

‘Self-censorship is worrying’

According to Deepak Malghan, who teaches public policy at IIM-Bangalore, freedoms on Indian campuses were never absolute but now they are additionally facing “external pressures”, arising from the need to pander to the current regime. This has triggered self-censorship in academia, a shift he is worried about. “Universities function best when there is a cacophony of voices; homogeneity is problematic,” he says.

Chandan agrees that an “imagined censor” is dictating what happens on our campuses — from the kind of guests they invite and the movies they screen and what they teach in the classrooms. This, he says, is a result of the “overpoliticised” times we live in. “We are in an unhappy situation where professors and students can’t be sure if the higher-ups would stand by them if somebody kicks up a row,” he says.

While attacks on free speech at public institutions such as JNU, Jamia Millia Islamia and IISc make headlines, Chandan says the illiberalism at private colleges is going unquestioned. These often have a long list of strictures for students. “Private colleges pre-empt things and try not to invite negative attention from the government,” he says.

These censorships are often subtle — disguised as informal advice like ‘Act responsibly or it will hurt all of us’ or cutting down on budgets for an event. Teachers fear for their jobs and don’t want to be seen as instigating students. For students, grades and placement are on the line. Trolling on social media has also got everybody’s guard up.

Discourses on environment or gender still manage to find space but religious and caste conflicts are “hot potatoes”, says a sociology professor. She says academics had a sense of freedom until 2015-16 but now they err on the side of caution.

Rakesh Katarey, journalism professor from Dayananda Sagar University, says the loss of academic freedom stems from the failure to understand why we need it. “In many liberal democracies, governments that are elected have a minority vote but enjoy a majority in parliament. So who represents the voters at large? Educational institutions fill these critical gaps by providing factual information and tools to examine issues,” he explains.

‘Ideas need scrutiny’

A college principal says she doesn’t fear revocation of “accreditation or funding”, but management must transfer the knowledge of sensitive subjects such as UAPA to students only after “scrutiny” – after they have understood the pros and cons.

A communications professor dubs the IISc episode as a “one-off” and says “it is not a reflection of the academia at large”.

What happened

Student activists Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, out on bail after they were arrested under UAPA in the 2020 Delhi riots case, were invited by students of IISc for a talk on the campus on June 28.

The talk, earlier approved, was scrapped after the registrar intervened citing a lack of “administrative approval” and “complaints raised from certain quarters”. The talk was subsequently held informally near a food court despite an attempt to thwart it. This sparked a signature campaign. About 540 academics and students from across India urged the IISc director to uphold academic freedom and democratic values.