JNU Cancels Venue for Umar Khalid Book Discussion Following ABVP Campaign
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has cancelled venue permission for a scheduled discussion on jailed activist Umar Khalid's book 'Fractured Communities: Adivasi Histories and the Politics of Power' at the School of Social Sciences-I auditorium. The event, organised by the JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) to mark Vishva Adivasi Diwas, was scheduled for 3 pm on Monday, August 10. Barely 24 hours before the event, the university administration cited non-disclosure of full facts about the programme as the official reason for cancelling the booking.
The JNUSU rejected the administration's rationale and announced that the discussion would proceed in the open near the university's SSS-II building. JNUSU president Aditi Mishra stated that the booking form was completed on the explicit advice of the Dean of the School of Social Sciences, denying any incomplete disclosure and calling the justification a manufactured pretext for censorship. Assistant Professor Avinash Kumar, who submitted the initial venue requisition, also stated that the Dean was fully informed about the event and questioned under which university rule the booking was unilaterally revoked.
Meanwhile, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the RSS, claimed credit for the cancellation following a campaign against the event. ABVP JNU unit president Mayank Panchal called the decision a victory, stating that the university campus should not serve as a platform for individuals accused in serious anti-national activities. The ABVP had raised objections across social media platforms after the event poster surfaced.
The book, published by Juggernaut, is based on Khalid's doctoral thesis on the Adivasi tribes of Jharkhand's Singhbhum region, for which JNU awarded him a PhD in 2019. Khalid has been in custody since September 2020 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the 2020 northeast Delhi riots conspiracy case.
The planned discussion panel includes professors Prabhu Mahapatra and Uma Chakravarti, writer-journalist Shuddhabrata Sengupta, activist Harsh Mander, and scholar Banojyotsna Lahiri. As of August 9, the university administration had not issued further comments regarding the student union's allegations or the claims made by the ABVP.
