The Jawaharlal Nehu University Students’ Union (JNUSU) on Sunday (August 9, 2026) hit out at the JNU administration for cancelling a discussion on the book “Fractured Communities: Adivasi Histories and the Politics of Power”, written by former student Umar Khalid, to be held at SSS-1 auditorium on August 10.
The JNUSU in a statement said discussing a book was a fundamental part of academic culture and democratic engagement on any university campus.
The JNUSU further said cancelling a room did not cancel a conversation and that the programme would take place outside the venue.
ABVP JNU also protested against the administrative officials who granted permission for this event glorifying the traitor Umar Khalid,” the ABVP said.
ABVP JNU president Mayank Panchal said, “JNU cannot be a platform for glorifying a traitor accused of serious anti-national activities and violence.
The Jawaharlal Nehu University Students’ Union (JNUSU) on Sunday (August 9, 2026) hit out at the JNU administration for cancelling a discussion on the book “Fractured Communities: Adivasi Histories and the Politics of Power”, written by former student Umar Khalid, to be held at SSS-1 auditorium on August 10. Khalid is currently lodged in jail in the 2020 northeast Delhi riots conspiracy case.
The JNUSU in a statement said discussing a book was a fundamental part of academic culture and democratic engagement on any university campus. “By cancelling the venue for this event, the JNU administration has once again exposed its anti-student and anti-intellectual agenda, one that seeks to suppress critical thought and silence dissenting voices rather than foster the free exchange of ideas that a university is meant to protect,” the JNUSU said.
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Administration’s stand
The administration, in response, said the JNU was a democratic and decentralised institution and that permission was given by Dean, SSS who had taken action as well in cancelling the event. “The booking of the auditorium SSS-1 stands cancelled because of non-disclosure of the full facts about the programme which is going to take place on August 10 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.,” the university said.
The JNUSU alleged that it was the Dean of the School of Social Sciences who himself instructed that the booking be made in that very format. “This contradiction lays bare the administration’s true intent: to manufacture a pretext for censorship,” the union said.
The JNUSU further said cancelling a room did not cancel a conversation and that the programme would take place outside the venue. “No administrative order can suppress the right of students to think, question, and discuss,” the union said.
The union described the book as a serious, long academic work on the struggle of Adivasi resistance and their struggles of Jal, Jungle and Jameen and that cancelling the discussion on the same book exposed the administration’s anti-Adivasi ideology. The discussion is to feature professors Prabhu Mahapatra and Uma Chakravarti, Shuddhabrata Sengupta, and social activists Harsh Mander and Banojyotsna, according to the event poster.
ABVP takes credit
Taking credit for the cancellation of the event, the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) said that as soon as the poster for the event surfaced, ABVP JNU prominently raised the issue through various social media platforms and demanded the university administration cancel the event immediately. “Following ABVP JNU’s continued protests and efforts, the event has been cancelled. ABVP JNU also protested against the administrative officials who granted permission for this event glorifying the traitor Umar Khalid,” the ABVP said. ABVP JNU president Mayank Panchal said, “JNU cannot be a platform for glorifying a traitor accused of serious anti-national activities and violence. We spoke out against this event and lodged our clear objection with the administration. The cancellation of the event is a victory for the ABVP’s struggle.”
