Delhi school cancels JNU professor Zoya Hasan’s ‘Pluralism’ talk after VHP members protest

Sardar Patel Vidyalaya cancelled event citing security concerns after VHP members allegedly protested outside; police said they were called to prevent a law-and-order situation.

Zoya Hasan | X

New Delhi: An Independence Day event organised at Delhi’s Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, where Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) professor emerita Zoya Hasan was invited as the chief guest, was cancelled Friday due to security concerns, after members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) allegedly gathered outside the school campus to protest.

Prof. Hasan was scheduled to speak on “Pluralism” at the event to start at 10am Friday. The announcement of the event was not public, but the invite was shared with the parents.

People familiar with the matter told ThePrint that the school had been in contact with Prof. Hasan regarding the event for over a month, and all arrangements were in place by Thursday night. Two faculty members were supposed to escort Prof. Hasan from her residence to the school.

“Instead, school security personnel reached her home and informed her that the event was cancelled due to a security threat to her and the school,” one of them said.

They further added that a VHP group reached outside the school premises Friday morning, and started sloganeering following which police reached the spot. When contacted, Prof. Hasan confirmed the incident to ThePrint. ThePrint has also reached out to school principal Anuradha Joshi for a comment and this report will be updated as and when she responds.

The Delhi Police told ThePrint that they received a call from the school reporting a law-and-order situation and warning that any delay in response could pose a serious security risk.

Subsequently, several police officers were deployed at the venue. “We were informed that, considering the threat to Prof. Hasan’s well-being and safety, the school was cancelling the event. It was not cancelled at the behest of the Delhi Police. We only sent personnel to ensure that there was no law-and-order escalation,” a police officer said.

ThePrint also learnt that Hasan had been receiving hateful comments and threats on social media for the past two days. The incident received criticism on social media.

“When informal pressure on the School from official sources to cancel the programme failed, they resorted to this extreme last minute measure. A lecture to schoolchildren on pluralism, by one of our most eminent social scientists, is too much for our current leaders to handle,” economist and former JNU professor Jayati Ghosh said in a series of posts on X.

Delhi University professor Apoorvanand also took to X to slam the police. “@DelhiPolice should have restrained the lumpens of the VHP, but they forced the school to cancel the talk by Prof Zoya Hasan. Yet they would like to be respected as a professional force.The children would find out on their own who Prof. Hasan is prevented from meeting,” she posted.

(Edited by Pakhi Khare)