PUCL slams Delhi University VC for ‘regressive’ remarks against academic freedom

By A Representative 

The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has strongly condemned what it described as the “regressive, defamatory and unconstitutional” remarks made by Delhi University Vice Chancellor Prof. Yogesh Singh in a speech delivered on September 28, 2025. The address, titled “Naxal Mukt Bharat: Ending Red Terror Under Modi’s Leadership — Why Campuses Are Targets?”, was given to university teachers and students, and later circulated via email and social media.

In a detailed press statement, PUCL said it was “shocked at the troubling views” expressed by the Vice Chancellor, who, according to the civil liberties body, sought to vilify teachers and students for promoting critical and socially conscious thought on university campuses.

PUCL accused Prof. Singh of attempting to equate academic inquiry and social justice concerns with “urban Naxalism,” and of issuing “a veiled warning” to faculty members who encourage students to think critically or express dissenting views. The organisation said the Vice Chancellor’s remarks amounted to “an open call to weaponize campuses and teachers against anyone who dared to speak in a critical voice.”

According to the PUCL, Prof. Singh’s exhortations to “identify” and “remove” so-called “anti-national” or “urban Naxal” elements among students and faculty represent “a dangerous attempt to surveil and police both classrooms and teachers.”

“The main thrust of Prof. Singh’s astonishing and unnerving speech was to exhort teaching staff to identify and remove those who ‘work against the nation.’ Such statements erode the constitutional value of freedom of thought, conscience, and speech,” PUCL said.

The organisation added that the Vice Chancellor’s repeated references to “anti-nationals” and “urban Naxals” echo McCarthy-era paranoia and promote “a culture of fear and conformity inimical to democratic and academic freedom.”

PUCL also criticised Prof. Singh for promoting the films of director Vivek Agnihotri as teaching material while disparaging critically acclaimed films such as Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi for allegedly “glorifying urban Naxals.” The statement described this as “a blatant endorsement of crude indoctrination over rational discourse.”

“The Vice Chancellor’s remarks are nothing other than an attempt to promote a homogenous discourse in which dissenting voices have no place in the name of nationalism,” PUCL said.

The group warned that such rhetoric undermines India’s universities as spaces that “cultivate the freedom of thought” and “nurture diversity of views.”

PUCL objected strongly to Prof. Singh’s decision to name several Delhi University professors and student activists currently or formerly accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), including members of the women’s collective Pinjra Tod, Prof. Hany Babu, Dr. Shoma Sen, and Dr. Anand Teltumbde.

“The Vice Chancellor traded in false, unsubstantiated and malicious remarks about faculty and students,” the statement said, reminding him that none of those named have been convicted. It cited Delhi High Court rulings granting bail to Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, noting that the court had questioned the credibility of the prosecution’s evidence in their cases.

PUCL also noted that the Vice Chancellor “forgot his duty to defend his own faculty and students wrongfully accused in long-drawn criminal proceedings,” citing the case of Prof. G. N. Saibaba, who was acquitted by the Supreme Court after years of incarceration and died months later due to deteriorating health.

The statement further accused Prof. Singh of displaying “a patriarchal mindset” in his remarks on Pinjra Tod members, whom he described as “arrogant and disrespectful” for demanding safety and freedom of movement on campus.

PUCL said such remarks “reflect paternalistic bias” and run contrary to constitutional principles of gender equality. Quoting the Supreme Court’s ruling in Anuj Garg v. State of Delhi, the group reminded the Vice Chancellor that it is the state’s duty to ensure women’s safety and equal participation, not to impose moral restrictions.

PUCL warned that the Vice Chancellor’s statements “bode ill for democratic discourse in campuses at a time when academic censorship is at an all-time high,” citing the Scholars at Risk: Free to Think 2025 report, which ranked India among countries where academic freedom is “completely restricted.”

Calling on Prof. Singh to “rescind his views forthwith,” PUCL said universities must remain spaces that “nurture healthy debate, diversity, and critical thought.”

“If these regressive and patriarchal views overshadow the constitutional promise of freedom,” the statement concluded, “generations of students will have minds dominated by fear and heads cowed down by authority.”

The press statement ended with a reminder from Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali:

“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high…

Where knowledge is free…

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.”