Why Indian Universities Are Witnessing a 'Bloody Spring’: The Criminalisation of Student Protests
Aakriti Handa | 18 March 2026 | The Quint
Even as Indians witness tensions escalate in West Asia with keen curiosity, they must also turn their gaze towards growing clashes within the country, particularly at its higher education institutions. The second half of February saw student groups clash with each other and with security forces in central universities; vandalise a private university; and form a human chain to allow fellow Muslims to offer prayers safely.
As a consequence of this, students were injured and hospitalised; charged under serious offences, detained, arrested and jailed; while Delhi University enforced a month-long ban on protests on campus— a move described as “unprecedented and undesirable” by the DU Teachers Association.
The common theme running through these clashes is the ideological polarisation between student groups— particularly the Left-affiliated All India Students Association (AISA) and the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP)— as academic or cultural events quickly turn into political flashpoints…