Banned for asking a question: How a professor’s exam paper shook a university

On April 2 this year, second-year Political Science students at a government-funded college affiliated to Chaudhary Charan Singh University (CCSU), Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, sat for what should have been a routine examination. But controversy erupted soon after over two questions in the paper referencing the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Following protests by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), CCSU permanently banned the paper setter, Professor Seema Panwar, from all examination and evaluation duties.• One question had asked students to identify “anomic groups” — those alienated from mainstream society — listing options such as Dal Khalsa, Naxalite groups, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), and RSS.• Another question required matching political movements with identity-based politics, linking the RSS to religious and caste identity.The ABVP, in a letter to the university, alleged that these questions were defamatory and “anti-national,” mischaracterising the RSS, which they described as a social and cultural organisation dedicated to national unity.CCSU Registrar Dhirendra Kumar Verma confirmed that an emergency academic committee meeting was convened, and the decision to remove Panwar from all future exam duties was taken unanimously. 120898065In a written apology to the university, Panwar clarified that the questions were based on the prescribed textbook “Indian Polity” by M Laxmikanth, which is used widely across Indian universities and categorises the RSS under “religious pressure groups”.Panwar, who has taught for over 25 years, insisted the questions adhered to academic norms.This is not an isolated episode. Over the past five years, India’s academic institutions have seen a sharp rise in incidents where teachers have been censured, suspended, or dismissed over content deemed politically sensitive.A pattern of punishmentIn August 2023, Unacademy, one of India’s largest online education platforms, terminated law educator Karan Sangwan after a video clip from his class went viral. In it, Sangwan urged students to vote for “educated candidates”. You can hear what he said below.The company stated that Sangwan had violated its code of conduct by airing personal opinions during teaching hours. Sangwan, who holds an LLM (master of laws) in criminal law and runs the YouTube channel Legal Pathshala with over 45,000 subscribers, was with Unacademy since 2020. medium nocaption102850333Unacademy co-founder Roman Saini said that educators must not express political views in the classroom, which could unduly influence learners.At Ashoka University, assistant professor of economics Sabyasachi Das resigned in August 2023 after his working paper titled “Democratic Backsliding in the World's Largest Democracy” drew heavy criticism. The paper, uploaded to the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) on July 25, presented statistical evidence that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had disproportionately won closely contested seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, especially in states where it held power.Though the university initially said it encouraged research autonomy, it later distanced itself from the paper, leading to Das’s resignation. Faculty members from Ashoka’s Department of Economics wrote to the governing board expressing outrage and threatening a mass faculty exit. The university did not reinstate Das, and the paper was subsequently taken off by SSRN. medium120898308Criminalising curriculumIn December 2022, Madhya Pradesh police registered FIRs against four individuals associated with the Indore Law College, including the principal, a professor, publisher Hitesh Khetrapal, and writer Farhat Khan. The controversy surrounded a library book titled “Collective Violence and Criminal Justice System”, which contained passages allegedly offensive to Hindu religious sentiments.The ABVP filed a complaint alleging the book insulted Hindu deities and fostered communal disharmony. A judicial probe was later ordered.In June 2023, Tejaswini Desai, a sociology professor at Kolhapur Institute of Technology’s College of Engineering, was sent on forced leave after countering communal statements made by students during a classroom discussion about the June 7 Kolhapur violence.Desai reportedly told students that rape was a crime not confined to any one religion. Edited clips of her statements circulated online, falsely portraying her as praising Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and accusing Maratha icons of sexual violence. The college administration distanced itself from her remarks, and she was subsequently suspended pending inquiry.In November 2023, a talk by noted academic and journalist Achin Vanaik on the Israel-Palestine conflict, scheduled at IIT Bombay was abruptly cancelled. Initially postponed, it was eventually scrapped altogether after political backlash from student groups who claimed Vanaik had made controversial remarks about Hinduism in a previous lecture at another institution. Vanaik later clarified that his remarks were misrepresented and taken out of context, but IIT Bombay maintained the cancellation without formal explanation.Global concerns on academic freedom in IndiaIndia’s trajectory on academic freedom has been flagged by global watchdogs. The 2024 edition of Free to Think, the annual report published by Scholars at Risk (SAR), documented 391 attacks on higher education across 51 countries from July 2023 to June 2024.India, according to SAR, has seen a steady decline in academic freedom over the last decade. It cited administrative harassment, classroom censorship, and criminal complaints as recurring themes.SAR, which includes 665 institutional members such as Columbia, Duke, and New York universities, placed India in the same bracket as authoritarian states like Iran, China and Russia in terms of institutional threats to academic independence.What this means for India’s futureThe cumulative impact of these incidents is a pervasive atmosphere of fear and self-censorship in Indian academia. Teachers now routinely worry that a class discussion, a reference in an exam paper, or a research topic could spark outrage and jeopardise their careers.In March 2024, Delhi University professor Apoorvanand was barred from delivering a scheduled lecture at a government college in Madhya Pradesh. The lecture, part of a UGC-sponsored national seminar on education and democracy, was cancelled at the last minute by the college authorities citing “administrative reasons.” However, faculty members privately admitted that the decision followed pressure from student groups objecting to Apoorvanand’s political views. The professor, known for his writing on secularism and minority rights, later said this was part of a pattern where academics are silenced not through debate but through exclusion.While state and private institutions insist their actions are meant to preserve neutrality and order, critics argue that these decisions are increasingly driven by political considerations, not academic standards.