The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has cancelled the auditorium booking for a book discussion on Umar Khalid’s Fractured Communities: Adivasi Histories and Politics of Power on the occasion of International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on August 10 at 3 PM.
In a letter dated August 9, 2026, addressed to Dr Avinash Kumar, Joint Registrar, M.K. Pachauri stated that the booking of the SSS-I Auditorium ‘stands cancelled because of non-disclosure of the full facts about the programme,’ which had been scheduled for August 10 from 3 pm to 6 pm. The letter noted that it was ‘issued with the approval of the Dean, SSS,’ and copies were marked to the SSS Councillor, the Chief Security Officer, and the Security Guard at SSS-I.
DU Prof. Prabhu Mohapatra, Prof. Uma Chakravarti, Harsh Mander, Shuddhabrata Sengupta and Banojyotsna were invited as speakers for the scheduled event.
The booking request had been filed by Dr Avinash Kumar of JNU’s Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies (CISLS), School of Social Sciences, describing the purpose of the event on the official form as a ‘Public Talk for Adivasi Diwas (Book Discussion).’ The form was countersigned by the Dean of the School of Social Sciences on August 7, 2026, and the Dealing Assistant had confirmed the auditorium’s availability for the date, with a note that the booking be considered further before final approval.
Speaking on the cancellation, BJP spokesperson R.P. Singh said, “JNU authorities are within their right to cancel any such event which is against the country,” adding that under the cover of some event on tribals, they were trying to bring in the Umar Khalid issue. “They obviously have to disclose every detail before they organise the event.”
What does the book carry about Adivasi Ho history and politics?
Fractured Communities: Adivasi Histories and Politics of Power is a history book about the Adivasi Ho community of Singhbhum in present-day Jharkhand. Based on Umar Khalid’s PhD thesis submitted at JNU in 2018, the book sheds light on 200 years of political and social reforms in the region, especially how British imperial rule, local systems of authority, forests, land, natural resources and later Indian state policies affected Adivasi society.
For the uninitiated, Khalid was a JNU PhD scholar. His student activism made him a prominent figure in the university’s political debates.
In September 2020, he was arrested under the UAPA in connection with the broader conspiracy case relating to the 2020 Delhi riots. As the case proceeds, he remains in custody and has denied the allegations.