From Umar Khalid Book Row to RSS Events, JNU’s Autonomy is Increasingly at Risk
Harsh Mamnani | 10 August 2026 | The Quint
In the latest attack on academic freedom, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration has decided to cancel a book discussion on Umar Khalid’s PhD thesis. Umar’s PhD thesis, Fractured Communities: Adivasi Histories and the Politics of Power, was supposed to be discussed on 10 August—a day after Adivasi Diwas (International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples).
The event at the School of Social Sciences One (SSS1) auditorium, organised by Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) featured a panel comprising Professor Prabhu Mohapatra, Professor Uma Chakravarti, Shuddhabrata Sengupta, Harsh Mander, and Umar’s confidante, Banojyotsna Lahiri. Citing ‘non-disclosure of the full facts about the programme’, the event was cancelled with the approval of the Dean, SSS. JNUSU has said the event will go ahead regardless, now outside the SSS1 building.