Why Have 411 Academics, Civil Society Members Written An Open Letter To Azim Premji University?
06 March 2026 | The Wire
More than 400 academics and civil society members have written to Azim Premji University (APU), asking it to reconsider recent measures taken against its own students. Last week, the university administration approached Bengaluru Police against its own students who host a reading circle. This happened after Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-run student body, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members allegedly vandalised the university premises because they disagreed with the topic of discussion advertised by the SPARK reading circle students.
The topic SPARK chose – alleged mass rapes in Kunan Poshpora, Jammu and Kashmir, by security forces decades ago – has roiled politics and society in India and the erstwhile state in the past. Judicial and official pronouncements have failed to bring closure, especially to those critical of the role played by security forces in Kashmir while suppressing militancy in the region…