Congressman Shashi Tharoor has criticized Delhi University’s decision to suspend PhD candidate Lokesh Chugh for his involvement in the broadcast of the banned BBC documentary on the school’s campus on January 27. Chugh has been barred from sitting for any university, college, or departmental exams for a year. Tharoor, a graduate of the university, expressed his disgust at the university’s decision, calling it “shameful” and a betrayal of everything a university should stand for. He went on to say that it is unacceptable to punish a student for watching a documentary in a democracy.
The National Students’ Union of India, a branch of Congress led by Lokesh Chugh as national secretary, has also been affected by the controversy. Ravinder, a member of the legal faculty, has also been suspended. The suspension was carried out in the midst of a controversy over the documentary’s ban. Delhi University held a screening of the divisive Gujarat riots documentary India: The Modi Question, which was shown by Bhim Army Student Federation and NSUI. A committee was formed by the university to investigate the incident, and the committee recommended punishing eight students. The other six received less severe punishments. Two of the eight were suspended for a year.
