Academic freedom in India ‘severely restricted,’ global report says
Report documents curbs on Muslim-focused teaching, Kashmir books, campus protests and critical scholarship amid growing state influence
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — Academic freedom in India is “severely restricted,” with scholars and students facing growing constraints on teaching, research, political expression and campus protests, according to a new international report that documents cases including suspension of a professor over an exam question on atrocities against Muslims.
Scholars at Risk (SAR), an international network defending academic freedom, made the assessment in its Free to Think 2026 report, released this week.
Report documented 382 attacks on higher education communities across 59 countries and territories between July 2025 and June 2026.
Among cases highlighted in India was suspension of Jamia Millia Islamia professor Virendra Balaji Shahre after he set an examination question asking students to discuss “atrocities against Muslim minorities in India.”
Report also cited Jammu and Kashmir authorities’ ban on sale, possession and distribution of 25 books by historians, academics and journalists examining region’s political and social history, including works dealing with enforced disappearances and feminist resistance.
Such cases form part of a wider pattern that SAR said involves government interference in university autonomy, restrictions on curricula and research, disciplinary action against academics and increasingly constrained space for student dissent.
Report said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party government continued using University Grants Commission as a major instrument of state influence over higher education, while changes involving appointments of vice-chancellors have fueled concerns about university autonomy.
Academic Freedom Index, cited by SAR, has also recorded a steep deterioration in India.
Index assesses factors including freedom to research and teach, academic exchange, institutional autonomy, campus integrity and academic and cultural expression. SAR has previously identified India among countries experiencing strong autocratization trends.
Restrictions extended beyond issues concerning Muslims and Kashmir. SAR documented the cancellation of lectures at Banaras Hindu University and Mumbai University involving speakers critical of BJP-led government, as well as Delhi University’s cancellation of a seminar on land, property and democratic rights.
Students also faced disciplinary and police action over protests. At Jamia Millia Islamia, students received show-cause notices after demonstrating on anniversary of 2019 police crackdown during protests against Citizenship Amendment Act, legislation widely criticized for introducing religion into India’s citizenship framework.
Report further documented clashes, detentions and criminal cases connected to campus demonstrations, including solidarity with Palestinians, student elections and other political and social issues.
India’s developments were presented within broader global decline in academic freedom. SAR said governments increasingly use legislative and executive powers to restrict curricula, research funding and university self-governance alongside more overt tactics such as arrests and prosecutions.
SAR Executive Director Robert Quinn said universities play a critical role in democratic societies by cultivating independent and critical thinking, warning that political interference can pressure academics into self-censorship and weaken universities as spaces for open inquiry.
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