JNU Cancels Auditorium Booking for Umar Khalid Book Discussion Event
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has cancelled the venue booking for a student-organised discussion on former student Umar Khalid's book, which was scheduled to take place at the School of Social Sciences-I auditorium. The university administration cited "non-disclosure of the full facts" about the programme as the official reason for cancelling the event booking.
The event was scheduled for August 10 from 3 pm to 6 pm to mark the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. The panel was organized to discuss Khalid’s book, Fractured Communities: Adivasi Histories and the Politics of Power, which was published in June and based on his 2018 doctoral thesis submitted at JNU's Centre for Historical Studies. Khalid has been in custody since September 2020 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots case.
According to booking documents, the application went through the formal university process for a public talk and was approved on August 7 by the Dean of the School of Social Sciences. Professor Avinash Kumar was named on the form as the faculty representative for the programme. However, a notice dated August 9 issued by Joint Registrar M K Pachauri informed the organisers that the booking stood cancelled with the approval of the Dean. The administration did not specify what information had been withheld.
In a post on its official X handle, the university stated that the action was taken after authorities found full facts had not been disclosed, maintaining that permission and subsequent cancellation were handled by the Dean. The university tagged several central government ministers in its public post.
Professor Avinash Kumar rejected the administration's reason, stating that the Dean had been fully informed prior to approving the requisition form. Kumar questioned why a discussion on a book based on an approved JNU PhD thesis was being prevented.
Following the cancellation, the JNU Students’ Union announced that it would proceed with the discussion outside the School of Social Sciences-I building, stating that cancelling the venue would not stop the conversation.
