The Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, has arbitrarily cancelled talks by three women academics and anti-caste activists after the Hindu right-wing student group Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) approached the police against inviting alleged “members of the extreme Left” for the event.
The talks by academics and activists Deepali Salve, Nazima Parveen, and Smita M. Patil were scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at the IISER campus as part of the Muktiparv programme to mark the birth anniversary of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.
The student council, in a statement, vehemently condemned the arbitrary cancellation of Muktiparv ‘25 by the institute. “Muktiparv, a festival dedicated to the works of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, set against the structures of systemic oppression, was cancelled halfway by the institute for reasons unknown,” they said.
They said: “We would like to view the censorship imposed on the student body in the context of recent events around the country. An authoritarian presence is felt throughout the academic establishments where academic freedom has been forced to be pledged to external agencies or the ruling government. We unequivocally condemn all such tendencies exhibited by the institute’s administration and extend our unconditional solidarity to resist these top-down impositions. We call upon all the members of the IISER fraternity to stand united against authoritarianism.”
In a joint statement signed by the coordinators of the following campus clubs: Aroha, Art Club, Disha, Kaleidoscope, Kalpa, Literary Club, and Satrangi, students said the Institute should make public all complaints and related material received against Muktiparv and Satrangi on the basis of which the respective events were called off.
The institute said in its statement: “These talks were planned as part of Muktiparv, a student-driven initiative featuring external speakers who are scholars and experts in social equality, caste, and gender. The organisers, including students and faculty mentors, had followed due process, ensuring that the content of the event would not be objectionable. However, given the concerns raised, the institute has decided not to go ahead with the scheduled talks.”
“IISER remains committed to the values championed by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar—not only during the Ambedkar Jayanti celebrations this weekend, but throughout the year,” it added.
The students called upon Dalit-Adivasi-Bahujan students and progressive student outfits across the nation to join them against this censorship and stifling of student rights and autonomy.
“IISER Pune, a relatively elite institution, has only recently attempted to mainstream Dalit-Adivasi-Bahujan voices. Previous RTIs reveal a high dropout rate among SC/STs and the unfulfillment of SC/ST positions and seats in faculty hiring and PhD admissions. Muktiparv, an event organised by Dalit-Adivasi-Bahujan students, has been an affair that has attracted only around a few hundred-strong audience. Yet, this minor event in a premium education institution has threatened the ABVP and the ruling establishment. We ask ABVP, an organisation that is held by Brahmin and Upper Caste men: Who are you to tell Dalits-Bahujans-Adivasis how to celebrate Ambedkar and Ambedkar Jayanti? ABVP and the ruling classes may desire Dalit-Adivasi students to remain docile, but that will never be the case. We will resist this censorship and stifling of marginalised voices on student campuses,” read another statement by students.
