This is utterly appalling. Even in the days of the JP Movement leading up to the Emergency, there was no bar by the @UnivofDelhi on students joining any of his protests, and a couple of members of my Union Cabinet at St Stephen’s, including the late Chandan Mitra, openly did so. If one of India’s foremost public universities is allowed to threaten its students and faculty with significant consequences if they attend a protest, it has a chilling effect on democratic speech and expression. Most DU students are not so privileged as to ignore such a sternly-worded warning without fearing that their academic or professional prospects might suffer if they attended the protest. A university is meant to teach critical thinking and independent assessment of issues, not to stifle these very qualities. Shame on those at the @UnivofDelhi who saw fit to issue such a tweet. They are unworthy of holding any position at an institution of higher learning in a democracy.