The word university comes from the Latin word universitas, meaning “the whole”. It is a reminder that higher education is meant to be capacious enough to hold friction, dissent and discomfort. Unfortunately, this understanding of the university’s space and role seems to be conspicuous by its absence in the administration of Delhi University. The ban follows a larger pattern of administrative paternalism that has come to characterise institutions of higher education in the country. It assumes that debate and dissent are aberrations rather than animating principles of university life, that a sharp and tidy line separates scholarship from student politics.

Source: Indian Express February 19, 2026 11:15 UTC