New Delhi: When Manmohan Singh visited Jawaharlal Nehru University as prime minister in 2005 , some students protested by waving black flags at him.
Following this incident, the university issued notices to the protesting students, and some were taken into custody by the Delhi Police. The next day, Singh intervened in the matter, advising the then Vice-Chancellor, B.B. Bhattacharya, to be lenient in his dealings with the students. Bhattacharya recalled this incident in a 2015 interview.
“Manmohan Singh had told me ‘Please be lenient, Sir’. I said I have to at least warn them… but the problem today is that lines of communication with students have broken down,” the former vice chancellor had said.
Singh passed away on Thursday (December 26) at the age of 92. Tributes from around the world have highlighted his dignified demeanour and his commitment to democratic values.
The shift under Modi’s tenure
While Singh handled the 2005 protests in JNU with remarkable restraint and grace, such an approach has not been seen in the past decade under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Protests have been a tradition at JNU since its inception, but recent years have seen a noticeable suppression of dissent. After protests, students face cases filed against them, alongside obstacles imposed by the university administration during the academic year.
In 2016, during Modi’s tenure, an event was organised at JNU on February 9 to mark the third anniversary of the execution of Afzal Guru, who was convicted in the 2001 Parliament attack. Following this, a poetry reading session titled ‘The Country Without a Post Office’ was violently disrupted by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a student organization affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Also read: Manmohan Singh Was More Than an Architect of India’s Economic Reforms
Subsequently, Kanhaiya Kumar, then president of the JNU Students’ Union, along with others, was accused of chanting “anti-national” slogans. The accused students faced charges of sedition along with other criminal offences. However, an inquiry ordered by the Aam Aadmi Party government in 2016 revealed that many of the videos alleging such slogans were doctored.
The investigation also found that security guards at the university had provided false testimony implicating the students during an internal inquiry conducted by the JNU administration.
Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Association (JNUTA) president, Professor Moushmi Basu, commented, “This [2016] was the big turning point for JNU. From the floor of parliament to media newsrooms, there was an orchestrated attack on the institution. Unlike previous instances where the government stayed out of university politics, the Modi government seized the opportunity to clamp down on the autonomy of university spaces for its own political agenda.”
‘The current govt is more arrogant’: JNUSU president
In January 2023, JNU students planned a screening of the BBC news documentary India: The Modi Question, which focused on Modi’s alleged involvement in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
In January 2023, JNU students planned a screening of the BBC documentary India: The Modi Question, which scrutinized Modi’s role as chief minister in the 2002 Gujarat riots. The first part of the series held Modi and his party accountable for the targeted violence against Muslims that year.
The Modi government had already banned the documentary in India, and the JNU administration denied permission to screen it on campus. Despite this, students insisted on proceeding. During the event, as the documentary was being shown on laptops, the electricity and internet connections on the campus were disrupted. Additionally, students participating in the screening faced violent stone-pelting from right-wing student groups, resulting in injuries to several students.
The current JNUSU president, Dhananjay, said, “If we compare the Manmohan Singh government with the current Modi government, the contrast is clear. The current government shows more arrogance compared to Singh’s government. The right of students to protest is no longer safe – students now face proctorial inquiries, hefty fines, FIRs and charges under draconian laws like the UAPA.
He added that while there were certain restrictions during the previous government, it cannot be denied that there was still space for protests and the freedom to express opinions. “However, under the Modi government, democracy, the right to protest, and freedom of expression have been curbed to an unprecedented extent. Once a symbol of active dissent, JNU is now constrained in raising voices on students’ daily issues and other national matters. This government is continuously attempting to suppress students’ voices in various ways.”
JNU students have long protested on issues related to oppressed communities and student welfare. However, under the Modi government, there has been a concerted effort to silence dissent.
After the 2019 fee hike protests and several other demonstrations, students faced inquiries and police cases. Many claim that the Union government and university administration have consistently undermined their rights.
Regardless of the government in power, JNU students have always raised questions and protested against systemic injustices. But during the Modi government’s tenure, the intensity of efforts to suppress students’ voices has grown. Even the iconic walls of JNU, adorned with revolutionary posters and banners, now face threats. In 2023, the university administration announced fines of Rs 20,000 or suspension for students involved in putting up posters or staging protests.
For many on campus, the contrast between Singh’s lenience and Modi’s clampdown reflects a larger erosion of democratic freedoms in India’s academic spaces.
