ABSTRACT
Higher education institutions (HEIs) in India have, since colonial times, been treated as appropriate objects of state control. This chapter examines the situation of academic freedom in India. Relying on the standardized research guidelines for case studies on academic freedom, it details the characteristics of the higher education system and examines the current state of academic freedom across areas ranging from legal and institutional protection to the freedom to research and campus security. It finds that notwithstanding the centralization, bureaucratization, and politicization that had historically produced weak institutional autonomy, academic freedom was relatively protected in the past, even if by benign neglect rather than design. It is only recently that governmental control over universities has intensified, with significant consequences for academic freedom. The comprehensiveness of this recent assault is wide: From the politicization of appointments of heads of universities and even faculty appointments, to constraints on the freedom to teach, research, and disseminate knowledge both in professional circles and in the public domain, to threats to campus integrity by vigilante intimidation and violence directed at students and teachers. All this has been facilitated by already low levels of institutional autonomy and the absence of legal protection for academic freedom.
