EDITOR”S NOTE: This article is written by Mr. Meo Singsit (@singsitalks). The views expressed are his personal. This is part of Powercorridors.in’s effort to engage both the Kuki and Meitei communities in free and fair discussions on key issues through an objective media platform like ours.
I look forward to hearing from objective voices from every community in Manipur. Please send your articles for publication to novinkn@gmail.com. Please remember, there should not be any incitement to violence, and the article should not contain hate speech.
Navin Upadhyay
Editor
BY Meo Singsit
Academic institutions are meant to be bastions of free speech, spaces where diverse perspectives engage in open debate. However, Delhi University’s recent actions at the DU Literary Festival have shown a disturbing pattern of suppression. The removal of Dr. Seilen Haokip, a spokesperson for the Kuki-Zo community, from a panel discussion without prior notice is not just a personal insult but a broader attack on academic freedom and democratic values.
A Stacked Panel—Yet Haokip Was Silenced
Dr. Haokip was set to speak on a panel where he would have been the sole voice defending the Kuki-Zo community against three well-known figures with strong RSS and Meitei nationalist leanings—Rajat Sethi, Abhijit Chavda, and Lt. Gen. Konsam Himalay Singh. Even in this uneven battle, DU saw fit to remove him, ensuring that the conversation remained one-sided and completely dominated by Meitei sympathizers.
The real question is: Who pressured DU to silence Dr. Haokip? Why was he not informed of his removal until he had already arrived at the campus? If this was an honest decision, why the secrecy?
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The Pattern of Suppression
This incident is not an isolated one. Since 2022, academic freedom in Manipur has been under attack, with censorship imposed on research and publications under the Biren Singh government. Now, the same suppression seems to have reached the national capital, with Delhi University following the same script—erasing minority voices while giving the majority full control over the narrative.
The decision to exclude Dr. Haokip sends a chilling message: DU, once considered a beacon of independent thought, is now bowing to majoritarian pressure, whether from RSS, BJP, or Meitei nationalists.
A University’s Duty Is to Defend the Oppressed, Not the Powerful
A university should be a place where the oppressed find a voice, not where the powerful dictate who gets to speak. If Delhi University and @dulitfest cannot uphold basic principles of free speech, then they have no right to host such literary events in the first place.
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Dr. Seilen Haokip’s exclusion is not just about one speaker being removed from a panel—it is about the broader erosion of democracy, the silencing of an entire community, and the transformation of an academic space into a tool for political control.
This is a wake-up call. If institutions like Delhi University allow themselves to become mere extensions of ruling ideologies, they cease to be universities at all. Instead of fostering critical thought, they become factories of subjugation—serving the interests of those in power while crushing dissent.
Delhi University must answer for its actions. Silence is complicity, and this time, DU’s silence speaks volumes.
