JNU professor Zoya Hasan warns of rising threats to academic freedom in India

Zoya Hasan, a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), on Feb 20 expressed concern over the growing and rapid escalation of threats to academic freedom in India.

Speaking at a conference on 'Re-envisioning Higher Education in India' held at Loyola College, Hasan said, “India has seen an acceleration of threats against academic freedom, free speech, and digital rights and an uptick in online trolling and harassment. All this has led to a perceived erosion of free enquiry associated with a democratic society.”

Hasan pointed out that academic freedom, defined as the freedom of researchers and teachers to undertake critical inquiry, engage, and reflect on any concept without fear of censure, censorship, or intervention, is crucial for knowledge production.

“The direction higher education in India is slated to take represents the convergence of neoliberalism and Hindutva ideologies,” said Hasan.

She also criticized the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, claiming that, contrary to its assurances, it will further limit education to the socially and economically privileged elite.

MP Mahua Moitra claimed that inclusive education is still difficult to achieve in India. According to her, India has not yet allocated a sufficient portion of its GDP on education.

The contributions made by the Christian community in India, especially in the field of education, were discussed by Member of Parliament Derek O'Brien.

According to the numbers he provided, Christian minorities operate more than 54,000 educational institutions across the nation, and for every 100 students enrolled, at least 75 are members of the Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or Sikh communities.