From the infamous sedition row at Jawaharlal Nehru University to Rohith Vemula’s death at Hyderabad Central University campus, varsities across the country have been in news since 2016, exposing the underlying caste discrimination on India’s campuses. The exorbitant fee hike for scholarship students at Tata Institute of Social Services and the UGC’s grant of autonomy to institutions based on National Institutional Ranking Framework rankings and National Assessment and Accreditation Council—perceived as a push towards commercialisation by the Modi government—have also sparked protests. Such clampdowns on educational institutions have now become a ticking time bomb.
In a path-breaking attempt towards institutionalising this resistance, a three-day National Tribunal was organised in Delhi through Apri 11-13. Conducted by the People’s Commission on Shrinking Democratic Spaces (PCSDS), the event was a timely attempt at creating a safe space for students alongside renowned academicians to discuss themes of privatisation and autonomy in education, attempts made to re-write and saffronise syllabuses and the structural marginalisation and discrimination faced by students across the lines of class, caste and gender.
