India’s Academic Freedom Is Falling. What Is Happening Inside Its Universities?
The ‘Free to Think 2026’ report by Scholars at Risk said student expression and protests have also faced significant curbs in recent years.
By Sakshi
New Delhi, September 16: Academic freedom in India is “severely restricted”, with growing government authority over higher education influencing university governance and academic decisions, according to the ‘Free to Think 2026’ report by Scholars at Risk, released on September 16, 2026.
The report said student expression and protests have also faced significant curbs in recent years.
Government Influence in India’s Higher Education System
The report said the Centre’s growing influence over higher education was reflected in university leadership, appointments and academic priorities. It added that university administrators took actions that stifled campus discourse, including dismissing faculty members, cancelling academic events and enforcing new policies restricting student expression.
“Both students and police committed acts of violence at protests or other campus gatherings. Academic freedom was ‘severely restricted’ in 2026,” the report said.
It also alleged that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continued to use the University Grants Commission (UGC) as a “primary vehicle for state influence” over higher education.
“The UGC faced scrutiny in recent years for policies perceived to tighten government control over universities, including loosening academic qualification requirements for vice-chancellors and accelerating the casualisation of academic labour by removing the 10 per cent cap on non-permanent, contract faculty,” the report said.
AFI Score in Recent Years
India’s Academic Freedom Index (AFI) score fell from 0.38 in 2022 to 0.14 in 2025, according to AFI data.
However, the decline is not limited to India. The 2026 AFI data shows significant declines in academic freedom in 50 of the 179 countries analysed over the past decade, while only nine recorded improvements.
In the United States, institutional autonomy declined from 3.3 in 2019 to 1.7 in 2025, with the score falling from 2.4 in 2024 alone.
‘Suppressing Dissent’ Among Faculty
The report cited several recent cases that it described as instances of “suppressing dissent” among faculty members.
It highlighted the 2025 termination of South Asian University professor Snehashish Bhattacharya for “misconduct against university interests”.
Bhattacharya and 14 other faculty members had signed a November 2022 letter expressing concern over the university’s handling of student protests in October that year.
The report also cited the dismissal of Lora Santhakumar, an assistant professor at the SRM Institute of Science and Technology in Tamil Nadu, in 2025 over a social media post concerning Indian military action in Pakistan.
On May 7, 2025, Santhakumar shared a series of WhatsApp status updates opposing calls for war. One post read: “Say NO to war. And don't be afraid to say so, even if it is not the popular opinion.”
Her phone number and photograph subsequently circulated widely on social media, triggering online abuse and death threats. The university suspended her on May 8 and terminated her services on December 9, 2025.
The report said universities often justified event cancellations by referring to the content of the event or extramural statements made by invited speakers.
“Student protesters on Indian campuses faced pressure from university authorities, police, and opposing student factions.
“Policy shifts, academic decisions and debates about national identity, caste, religion and historical interpretation led to student protests. In some instances, demonstrations resulted in clashes between opposing student factions,” it said.
The report also said national and state government actors took actions that constrained freedom of research, teaching and publication.
For instance, it said the Supreme Court issued a “life ban” on March 11, 2026, barring three academics from receiving public funding for curriculum development.
The case involved three scholars who had collaborated with the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) on the Class 8 social science textbook, which contained a section that the court deemed to “project a negative image” of the judiciary.
Data Base
The report documents 382 attacks on higher education communities in 59 countries and territories between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026. It warns of government campaigns to silence dissent and enforce political compliance in higher education.
According to the 2026 AFI, academic freedom declined significantly in 50 of the 179 countries analysed over the past decade, while only nine recorded improvements.
Countries Where Academic Freedom Is ‘Severely Restricted’
Six countries and territories are listed under the report’s “severely restricted” category: Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the West Bank and Ukraine.
The report’s lowest category, “completely restricted”, includes Afghanistan, China, Iran, Russia, Turkiye, Syria, Venezuela, Zimbabwe and Gaza.
(with inputs from PTI)
