India’s Academic Freedom Ranking Drops in the Past Decade

• The “Free to Think 2024” annual report by the Scholars at Risk (SAR) Academic Freedom Monitoring Project shows a decline in India’s academic freedom ranking over the past decade.
• The report, which includes data from 665 universities worldwide, reveals a drop from 0.6 points to 0.2 points from 2013 to 2023.
• The most significant threats to academic freedom include the Bharatiya Janata Party’s political control and Hindu nationalist agenda.
• The report ranks India as “completely restricted”, its lowest score since the mid-1940s.
• Universities like Jawaharlal Nehru University and South Asian University have implemented stringent measures restricting student expression.
• The BJP-led Union government has been battling with State governments over higher education control.