From Knowledge To Dogma: Delhi University Under Ideological Siege
30 October 2025 | Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF)
The University of Delhi (DU) stands at a critical juncture as regards it's academic trajectory. It's recent actions reveal a deeply troubling trajectory of this hitherto distinguished educational institution. A stark contrast in its administrative priorities, evidenced by two separate communications, highlights a conscious move away from scientific temper and academic integrity towards the promotion of an unscientific and regressive political agenda.
This week, the university administration, under the direction of the Vice-Chancellor's office, arbitrarily cancelled a long-standing academic seminar at the prestigious Sociology Department of the Delhi School of Economics (DSE). The seminar, titled 'Land, Property and Democratic Rights,' was part of the Department of Sociology's venerable 'Friday Colloquium'—a series that has functioned independently as a forum of scientific and critical debates for many decades, including during the Emergency. No formal reason was provided for this last-minute cancellation, leading the colloquium's convenor, the leading sociologist Professor Nandini Sundar, to resign in protest. Professor Sundar stated she could no longer guarantee the intellectual integrity of the forum indicating that the cancellation signals that the RSS-led BJP government is wary of any meaningful discussion around land and democratic rights.
This act of censorship is a direct attack on critical thinking and academic freedom. It undermines the very foundation of a university as a space for rigorous debate and critical inquiry, essential for the health of a democracy. The silencing of discussions on constitutional rights and property law represents a deliberate stifling of social sciences, which have been a cornerstone of India's intellectual achievements since independence.
Simultaneously, the Office of the Dean of Colleges has enthusiastically circulated an invitation for a "National Godhan Summit," organized by the Rashtriya Godhan Mahasangh. The summit, focused on "Panchgavya" products and the "Bio E3" theme, is being promoted to all college principals, staff, and students. The active institutional promotion of this dubious event, juxtaposed with the suppression of a critical social science seminar, reveals a clear bias against scientific temper which is a constitutional lodestar. It signals the DU administration's commitment to furthering the unscientific and majoritarian agenda of the ruling RSS-BJP combine, which illogically prioritises belief-based claims over rigorously grounded evidence-based science.
The DU administration's actions represents a deliberate effort to hollow out the legacy of India's post-1947 achievements in both natural and social sciences, built by generations of rationalists and scholars. The University of Delhi is being transformed from a beacon of knowledge into an instrument for propaganda involving unscientific activities.
The DTF unequivocally condemns this blatant undermining of our educational institution. The teachers' collective must demand the immediate restoration of academic autonomy, the reversal of decisions that suppress critical inquiry, and a recommitment to the principles of scientific rationality and intellectual freedom that are essential for an India that is consistent with the basic principles of the constitution.
Rajib Ray, President
Abha Dev Habib, Secretary