India’s academic freedom ‘severely restricted’ under BJP government: report

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India’s academic freedom has been "severely restricted” under the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, according to the annual “Free to Think 2026” report released by Scholars at Risk’s (SAR), an international network of higher education institutions that works to protect threatened scholars and promote academic freedom, headquartered at New York University.

According to the report, India’s Academic Freedom Index (AFI) score decreased from 0.16 in 2024 to 0.14 in 2026, with both values falling in the "severely restricted" category, next to its neighbours China (0.07) and Afghanistan (0.09), where academic freedom was in the "completely restricted" category. India’s AFI value has declined significantly over the last decade, from 0.41 in 2015.

The AFI is measured on a scale of 0 to 1 and assesses parameters like campus integrity, freedom of academic and cultural expression, freedom of academic exchange and dissemination, freedom to research and teach and institutional autonomy.

The report documents 382 attacks arising from 321 verified incidents in 59 countries and territories, as reported by SAR’s Academic Freedom Monitoring Project from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. Of the 382, India accounted for the highest number of attacks, with 42 cases, the report noted. These attacks included violence, imprisonment or loss of position of academics or students.

The report states that India’s central government expanded its authority over higher education, influencing university governance, leadership appointments, and academic priorities. “University administrators took actions that stifled campus discourse, including dismissing faculty members, cancelling academic events, and enforcing new policies restricting student expression. Both students and police committed acts of violence at protests or other campus gatherings,” the report notes.

The report says that the ruling BJP government continued to deploy the University Grants Commission (UGC) as a primary vehicle for State influence over higher education. “The UGC faced scrutiny in recent years for policies perceived to tighten government control over universities, including loosening academic qualification requirements for university vice-chancellors and accelerating the casualisation of academic labour by removing the 10% cap on non-permanent, contract faculty,” it notes.

The report also notes that the government of Jammu and Kashmir banned the sale, distribution, and possession of 25 books by globally respected scholars, historians, and journalists which addressed Kashmir’s sociopolitical history, including discussions of enforced disappearances and feminist resistance.