Dean's Email Urging Attendance at Cow Summit Sparks Academic Freedom Fears at Delhi University

Delhi University cancels long-running democracy seminar as staff are urged to back cow summit

Delhi University, one of India’s oldest and most respected public universities, has come under scrutiny after administrators cancelled a long-running seminar on democratic rights the same day a dean circulated a directive encouraging staff and students to attend a government-linked cow welfare summit.

The cancelled lecture, part of a series that organisers say has run for six decades, was titled Land, Property and Democratic Rights and was scheduled for October 31. According to an email reviewed by CNN, the university’s Dean of Colleges, Balaram Pani, sent principals a message asking them to support the National Godhan (Cow Herd) Summit, an off-campus event billed by organisers as dedicated to cow welfare and sustainable, cow-based innovations. The summit runs through November 10.

Faculty and students say the coincidence has intensified concerns that Delhi University is facing pressure to prioritise events aligned with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its ideological backers over independent scholarship and debate. The Democratic Teachers Front said the decision to publicise the cow summit while cancelling a social science seminar demonstrated "a clear bias against scientific temper" and an erosion of academic priorities.

"If someone is working in the nation’s interest – supporting economic growth and improving the environment – why shouldn’t we support that? However, we are not promoting this event," Balaram Pani told the local outlet Times Now, according to reports.

Organisers of the summit describe the National Godhan Organization as an NGO affiliated with the government. The university has said it was supporting, not promoting, the event. CNN has sought comment from the dean and the university registrar.

Nandini Sundar, a sociology professor and convener of the cancelled seminar, said no reason was initially provided for the cancellation and accused authorities of an ideological clampdown. Sundar later resigned from her role as convener. Namita Wahi, a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research and the founding director of the Lands Rights Initiative, had been scheduled to speak; Wahi has been a frequent critic of government land acquisition policies.

Local media quoted the registrar as saying the seminar was cancelled because prior permission had not been sought. Sundar responded that prior permission has not been required for the seminar series for decades and that departments routinely invite speakers without such clearance.

Student voices are divided. Aryan Maan, president of the Delhi University Student Union and a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, said the RSS and its affiliates have no sway over university administration and pointed to newly established centres, such as the Centre for Hindu Studies, as evidence of increased academic options. Other students and a doctoral researcher who spoke anonymously described an atmosphere in which critical research topics and protests can lead to administrative or police pressure.

Observers and advocacy groups documenting campus freedom say the pattern goes beyond a single cancelled seminar. The Indian Academic Freedom Network reported more than 50 events in the past year that it characterises as promoting Hindutva or BJP policies, and documented instances of alleged interference with syllabi, book bans and disrupted seminars on democracy and free expression. A 2021 report by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project noted a rise in attacks on minority groups by right-wing Hindu nationalist actors.

Critics tie these developments to broader political trends. The BJP, which traces its ideological roots to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has elevated cow protection in its platform and encouraged stricter laws on cow slaughter. Activists say those laws and related rhetoric have coincided with increased vigilante violence, often targeting Muslim communities.

Supporters of the government and its affiliates argue that many initiatives, including events on cow welfare, are cultural or environmental in character and expand academic and public engagement. Critics counter that when administrative appointments, event approvals and academic agendas require government approval or political alignment, academic freedom and open inquiry suffer.

As debates continue at Delhi University and across India’s public campuses, faculty and students warn that the space for critical debate is narrowing at institutions traditionally regarded as bastions of secular and academic life.