JNU Cancels Auditorium Booking for Umar Khalid Book Discussion

Jawaharlal Nehru University cancelled the auditorium booking for a scheduled book discussion on "Fractured Communities: Adivasi Histories and the Politics of Power," authored by jailed activist Umar Khalid, prompting the student union to announce the event would be relocated. The university administration stated the cancellation was due to the non-disclosure of full facts about the program in the venue request form.

The discussion, organized by the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) to mark the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, was set for Monday, August 10, 2026, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the School of Social Sciences (SSS) I auditorium. Speakers were to include Professors Prabhu Mohapatra and Uma Chakravarti, writer and journalist Shuddhabrata Sengupta, social activist Harsh Mander, and Banojyotsna Lahiri.

In a letter dated August 9, 2026, addressed to Dr. Avinash Kumar of the Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies, who had filed the booking request, Joint Registrar M.K. Pachauri stated the booking "stands cancelled because of non-disclosure of the full facts about the programme." The letter noted the decision was issued with the...