Kuki students' organisation alleges discrimination at Delhi University festival

NEW DELHI: A Kuki students' organisation has alleged discrimination at the Delhi University Literature Festival following the exclusion of Kuki National Organisation spokesperson Seilen Haokip from a panel discussion. There was no immediate reaction available from the Delhi University.

The group termed the move as a "politically motivated act of censorship against minority voices", an official statement from the Kuki Students' Organisation of Delhi and NCR (KSOD and NCR) said. According to the statement, Haokip was initially set to participate in the panel -- "The Great Game East: The Northeastern Cauldron" -- but was removed after certain groups reportedly levelled "fabricated allegations" against him.

The KSOD criticised the university for giving in to external pressure, calling it a violation of academic freedom and democratic values. "This is not just an attack on one individual but a blatant act of academic censorship. By silencing a Kuki representative, the DU has unofficially endorsed the persecution, discrimination, and suppression of minority voices," the organisation said.

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The exclusion sparked outrage among other students as well as activists and intellectuals who demanded an explanation from the festival organisers. They argued that a literature festival should be a space for open discourse, not a platform for suppressing marginalised perspectives.

The KSOD has called for accountability and urged civil society to stand against what they described as an ongoing pattern of systemic exclusion faced by the Kuki community, the statement reads. The organisation has also warned that such actions contribute to the erasure of their struggles and historical contributions to India's security and resistance against colonial oppression, it added.