An academic seminar, which is a part of one of the Delhi School of Economics' (DSE) longest-running colloquiums has been cancelled at the orders of the administration of Delhi University, which governs the DSE.
The seminar, titled 'Land, Property and Democratic Rights,' was part of the Department of Sociology's 'Friday Colloquium' series. It was scheduled to take place yesterday, October 31.
Dr Namita Wahi, senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research (CFPR), was set to speak about constitutional amendments and legal interpretations of the right to property, The Wire reports.
However, Dr Vikas Gupta, Registrar of DU, allegedly ordered the cancellation of the lecture through a WhatsApp message due to “administrative reasons”.
Sociologist Nandini Sundar, the Colloquium's convenor and a DSE professor, expressed her dissent and displeasure at the development through a social media post.
“Since I can no longer guarantee the intellectual integrity of the research colloquium and that it will not be cancelled arbitrarily at the last minute, I have resigned as convenor of the colloquium,” her Facebook post read.
She further alleged that no formal reason has been given for the cancellation orders in writing or otherwise. “...we can only speculate that the RSS-led government is scared of any discussion around land and democratic rights,” she wrote.
Sundar also wrote that the Friday Colloquium at DSE’s Department of Sociology was one of the oldest institutions at the Department, and even weathered the Emergency.
“It was part of our teaching practice and graduate students are required to attend. It was a space for serious discussion where our students interacted with some very fine minds, and speakers came away impressed by the quality of our students,” she wrote.
