Jawaharlal Nehru University calls off three seminars with the Iranian, Palestinian and Lebanese ambassadors

On Thursday 24 October 2024, Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi dropped three seminars on the conflict in West Asia, each of which was to be addressed by a different head of mission: the Iranian ambassador to India, Iraj Elahi, the Palestinian ambassador, Adnan Abu Al-Haija, and the Lebanese ambassador, Rabie Narsh. The events had been arranged by the Centre for West Asian Studies, part of the School of International Studies (SIS), and the stated reason was "unavoidable circumstances".

Elahi was due to speak that morning at 11 on how Iran reads recent developments in the region. At 8.09 am, seminar coordinator Sima Baidya emailed students to say the session was off, and the same message announced that the Palestinian ambassador's talk scheduled for 7 November and the Lebanese ambassador's session on 14 November would also not go ahead. Sources at the Iranian and Lebanese embassies told the Indian Express that the decision had come from the university and that they had not been told why. The Palestinian embassy did not respond to requests for comment.

According to university sources quoted in the press, senior academic staff had voiced unease about the possibility of protests on campus, given how divisive the chosen subjects were. One source framed the purpose of such events as understanding how West Asian states see the current geopolitical moment, while acknowledging that reactions on campus were a concern. That same day, SIS Dean Amitabh Mattoo circulated a message to the chairpersons of all the School's centres asking that he be consulted before any diplomat is invited to a public event, that individual faculty initiatives be routed through the chairs, and that ambassadorial visits receive proper protocol. He described the international atmosphere as charged and easily inflamed, and framed the instruction as protecting both the School's record on academic freedom and the integrity of its platforms against exploitation by interested parties.

Mattoo referred questions to Sameena Hameed, who chairs the Centre for West Asian Studies. Hameed offered a narrower account: the Iranian ambassador's seminar had been postponed rather than cancelled, on the grounds that it was put together at the last minute and the Centre could not observe the protocols required to receive an ambassador, and the two November talks had never been formally placed on the Centre's calendar. She suggested there had been miscommunication somewhere along the line, and stressed that the ambassadors have long-standing ties with the university and would continue to visit and meet students. JNU subsequently rejected the suggestion that it had acted under outside pressure, maintaining that no seminar on West Asia had been cancelled and that a single event had been postponed.