DU professor 'advised' to submit speech text for permission to travel to U.S.

DU professor Mr. Jha faces speech vetting and government approval for academic event, sparking concerns over autonomy and censorship.

Delhi University (DU) professor Apoorvanand Jha claims that the university administration has advised him to submit the text of his proposed lecture at an academic event in the United States for travel approval.

There was no reaction available from the DU administration.

Mr. Jha has called the move "unprecedented", saying it undermines the university's autonomy and academic freedom.

A faculty member in the Hindi department, Mr. Jha, has been invited to speak at a seminar, titled "The University Under a Global Authoritarian Turn", as part of the 20th anniversary celebrations of the India China Institute at The New School, New York, scheduled from April 23 to May 1.

Talking to PTI, Mr. Jha said, "I received a mail from the registrar's office asking me to submit the text of my speech for approval. In my view, this is very alarming. We are losing the DU's autonomy willingly. This is unprecedented as something like this has never happened before."

The professor said he had submitted his leave application more than 35 days in advance through the university's online Samarth portal, but received a mail from the DU on April 2, which stated that the university was "unable to grant permission" and needed to seek advice from the Union Ministry of Education.

In a letter addressed to DU Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh on April 15, Jha wrote, "I fail to understand what made the university forgo the principle of institutional autonomy and invite intervention of an outside agency, in this case the Union government, in a matter of granting leave."