KSO DELHI NCR: DU Literature Festival’s Exclusion of Dr. Seilen Haokip

 Ref. No.: KSOD&NCR/PR-CN-DU/2/2024-25 Date: 23rd February,2025

PRESS RELEASE
Delhi University Literature Festival’s Exclusion of Dr. Seilen Haokip: An Insult to Academic Freedom and Minority Voices

The Kuki Students’ Organisation, Delhi & NCR (KSOD & NCR) strongly condemns the unjust and politically motivated exclusion of Dr. Seilen Haokip from the Delhi University Literature Festival 2025. His removal from the panel discussion “The Great Game East: The Northeast Cauldron,” after pressure from Meitei groups spreading fabricated allegations, is not just an attack on one individual but a blatant act of academic censorship that reinforces the ongoing persecution and suppression of Kuki voices.

Delhi University, as an institution of global repute, is expected to be a sanctuary of free speech, open discourse, and intellectual inquiry. Instead, it has bowed to external pressures and compromised its own credibility by preventing a key stakeholder from speaking on an issue that directly affects his people. By silencing a Kuki representative, DU has unofficially endorsed the persecution, discrimination, and suppression of minority voices.

This is not an isolated incident—it is part of a larger pattern of systemic exclusion that the Kuki people have faced for generations. Despite their sacrifices in defending the nation, their contributions to India’s security, and their historic role in resisting colonial oppression, they are now denied the very platforms that should amplify their voices. This exclusion reflects the continuing marginalisations of the Kuki people, whose suffering and ongoing struggle for justice are deliberately erased from national discourse.

For Kuki students, this event is deeply disheartening. We came to this university with the belief that it upholds democratic values and the right to express differing perspectives. But, DU’s actions have made it clear that certain voices—especially those from marginalised communities—are unwelcome.

We demand accountability from the organisers and an immediate explanation for this exclusion. We call upon intellectuals, civil society organisations, and students to raise their voices against such discriminatory actions. Literature and academia must not be used as tools for marginalisation; they must remain platforms where all voices, especially those of the oppressed and marginalised, are given their due space.

Delhi University has failed its own ideals. A literature festival that censors and excludes voices under political pressure is no longer a platform for knowledge-sharing but a tool for reinforcing majoritarian narratives.

The KSOD & NCR stands in condemnation against this blatant discrimination. This act of exclusion does not just affect one speaker—it is a direct affront to every Kuki student and every minority voice in India that seeks to be heard.

Department of Information and Publicity Kuki Students’ Organisation Delhi & NCR

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