Delhi University Shaheed Bhagat Singh College generated controversy this week after it appealed to all teachers, staff, and students to join the official X (formerly Twitter) handle of Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh and retweet his support for the armed forces. The college subsequently retracted the notice amid public backlash and allegations of instilling a culture of servility in the academic community.
Posted on May 12, the notice read, “All college teachers, staff members and students are hereby requested to follow Vice-Chancellor Prof. Yogesh Singh’s official Twitter (now X) handle.” It also asked them to re-share his tweets as an expression of gratitude to India’s defence forces, citing national pride and unity.
The notice, signed by Principal Arun Kumar Attree, was posted on the college’s official website but later taken down. Principal Attree said the intention was to be part of the UGC’s Nation First Campaign and was “not connected with promoting any individual authority figure.” He clarified that the reason for taking down the notice was based on how “some people misinterpreted the good intentions behind it.”
DELHI UNIVERSITY watchers now ask: Should universities release instructions that can be seen as encouraging those in power, even in the name of national campaigns?
The notice highlighted that if the college community followed and retweeted the Vice-Chancellor’s tweets, they could “raise awareness about the courage and sacrifices of the armed forces” and “build a strong sense of national unity.”
But the decision provoked outrage in the Delhi University academic community. Academic Council member and professor Prof Maya John bitterly condemned the directive terming it inappropriate. “Whether one follows or doesn’t follow someone on X is a matter of personal choice. A directive from one in-charge to another to follow is not just arbitrary but helps perpetuate a culture of compliance among students and staff,” she told PTI in a statement.
Prof John further added, “This directive by a Delhi University college principal is thus highly condemnable. Educational spaces must uphold freedom of expression and individual autonomy.”
The row brewed soon after Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh had joined X last month. His initial post had come on May 8. On May 12, the same day the college had issued its order, Singh posted in Hindi regarding Operation Sindoor, relating to the recent Indian military counter-terror raids following the April 22 terror attack on Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir.
In his tweet, Singh tweeted that Indian forces had killed more than 100 terrorists, including those responsible for the 1999 IC-814 hijacking and the 2019 Pulwama attack. He praised the armed forces and highlighted the government’s silent efficiency in protecting national interests. His tweet concluded with extracts of Ramdhari Singh Dinkar’s renowned poem Parshuram Ki Pratiksha, focusing on the virtues of unity, patriotism, and support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the armed forces.
Though the Delhi University administration has yet to officially reply to the row, the nature and timing of the principal’s directive—much in line with the Vice-Chancellor’s online activity—have prompted academics and students to be worried about the blurring of institutional autonomy and ideological promotion.
Principal Attree again emphasized that the directive was a part of a national campaign and not intended to enforce compliance. “The Nation First Campaign is intended to instill patriotic feelings. Our aim was strictly motivational,” he said.
However, critics claim that such motivations should not encroach on the voluntary online conduct of students and faculty. A number of student bodies associated with Delhi University released statements condemning the notice, cautioning that social media engagement cannot be governed by institutional circulars, particularly when it includes following higher administrators or political support.
Academic freedom comprises the right to choose whom to follow, what to share and what opinions to voice online,” a representative from a student union at Delhi University said. “Making patriotism synonymous with retweeting some tweets creates a very bad precedent.
While tensions regarding freedom of expression and institutional impartiality persist in Delhi University, this incident contributes to the larger controversy of how far institutions of education need to go in being in sync with government campaigns or narratives. Although the notice has been retracted, it has initiated a debate that can influence future relations between the university administration and its academic body.
For the moment, Delhi University students and faculty wait for more definitive guidelines on institutional communications and campaign involvement, as issues of autonomy, consent, and cyber freedom become front-burner concerns within India’s flagship public university.
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