It is getting increasingly difficult for the academic community in India to participate in even basic exercises. What is frightening is that this infringement is not getting noticed in the wider #academia.

This coupled with the decrease in research funding will kill research. https://twitter.com/svaradarajan/status/1355569060109373440

Revised rules spec. note that applicable ministry is required to ensure that the subject matter for the online event is not related to “security of State, Border, Northeast states, UT of J&K, Ladakh or any other issues which are clearlypurely related to India’s internal matter/s”

The latter phrase is so broad as to include virtually every topic of interest to academics. The farmers’ protest relates to ‘India’s internal matters” as does the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, or caste issues or even the pros and cons of demonetisation.

Control of participation in online events will counter the benefit unis in India had in inviting global scholars to interact with their students, in looking for future collaborations and often benefitting from collaborative fundings from the US or the EU.

Dont even make me start on the incredible difficulty in attaining such 'permits' from ministries, the kind of backhanded social and political networking this requires. How are unis in small towns supposed to waddle through all this red tape? The turn to online conf was a chance

For students from disprivileged backgrounds to share and exchange knowledge with their global peers through these confs. This rule will ensure that our students will fall further behind, will miss invaluable networking chances and sharing their research.

It will also create barriers in knowledge exchange for scholars situated in other countries like me, who might now be subjected to govt scrutiny on how and what we work on.

Not to say that these subjects need more research precisely because of their imp as internal matter.

What would you say if the US decided that the govt will decide whether conferences on racial issues can be held and who will be able to talk at these spaces?