Renowned historian Romila Thapar, an emeritus professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and a key figure in its founding in the 1970s, expressed dismay over the institution's decline during the third Kapila Vatsyayan Memorial Lecture at the India International Centre on Tuesday. The 93-year-old scholar, celebrated for her works on ancient India's social and cultural history, lamented that JNU and other social sciences centres have suffered a "decimation" in the last 10 years, eroding the academic excellence that once earned the university global respect.

Thapar, who joined JNU in 1970 after earning her PhD from the University of London, highlighted how maintaining standards has become "extremely problematic", extending beyond isolated incidents to systemic challenges.

Thapar detailed tactics undermining academia, including the appointment of "substandard faculty", non-professionals influencing curricula and syllabi, efforts to revoke emeritus professorships, and restrictions on research and teaching freedoms. She referenced the January 5, 2020, attack on JNU's campus, where a masked mob stormed hostels and the administration building, injuring around 40 students and faculty amid protests over fee hikes and the Citizenship Amendment Act.

The violence, which no arrests followed initially, exemplified how political interference transcends academic norms. Thapar also alluded to prolonged detentions, such as that of former JNU student Umar Khalid, arrested in September 2020 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for alleged involvement in the Delhi riots conspiracy and still awaiting trial in September 2025, arguing that such actions stifle intellectual creativity and freedom of thought.

Turning to history education, Thapar criticised current methods as a regression to "discarded colonial theories", masquerading as decolonisation but reinforcing ideas like Aryan racial superiority and the Two-Nation Theory. She targeted the "Hindutva version" of history, which she said promotes a singular narrative favouring a Hindu state, questioning whether India's diverse society can be confined to one uniform heritage. Labelling history "an easy prey" due to public unfamiliarity, Thapar noted that social sciences, unlike technical fields, are more vulnerable to manipulation, often dismissed as "Marxist" to discredit post-colonial scholarship.

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Thapar stressed that reliable history demands accuracy free from political agendas, requiring trained teachers who foster questioning in students—a quality scarce in today's state schools. She urged nurturing pluralism through open debate, warning that majoritarianism and caste hierarchies contradict democracy. As India grapples with balancing heritage and progress, Thapar's call echoes broader concerns over academic autonomy amid rising nationalist curriculum reforms.

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