IIT Bombay Professor Defends Academic Freedom Amid Global Report
· India · India Today, Zee News, News18
IIT Bombay professor Shobha Shukla has stated that researchers will resist external pressure to dictate their work or thinking. Her comments follow the release of the Free to Think 2026 report, which classified India as having "severely restricted" academic freedom. The report, published by Scholars at Risk, recorded 382 attacks on higher education communities across 59 countries between July 2025 and June 2026. Data cited in the report indicates that India's academic freedom score declined from 0.38 in 2022 to 0.14 in 2025. Shukla emphasized that questioning established ideas remains a fundamental component of scientific inquiry and academic integrity.
Why it matters
The classification of India's academic environment as severely restricted raises concerns about the autonomy of researchers and the future of scientific inquiry in the country's institutions.
Read the original report — India Today
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