The event was organised by Left-affiliated All India Students' Association as an alternative to the official university festival
NEW DELHI – Since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power at the Centre and in several states in 2014, dissent has become a big casualty. Voices opposed to Hindutva ideology have been silenced with impunity: either the dissenters have been condemned to languish behind prison walls, or attempts have been made to silence them by adopting violent means.
A case in point is Thursday’s incident when noted historian, Prof Syed Irfan Habib, bore the brunt of hate and intolerance of dissent as a bucket of water was thrown at him during his address to students at a Delhi University event. The incident took place near Gate No. 4 of the Faculty of Arts campus during the ‘People’s Literature Festival: Samta Utsav’.
The event was organised by the Left-affiliated All India Students’ Association (AISA) as an alternative to the university’s official literature festival, which began the same day.
According to eyewitnesses, water was thrown from behind a wall near the venue.
“I had just begun my address and spoken for about 20 minutes when suddenly water from a bucket was thrown from a wall behind me,” Prof Habib was quoted by The Times of India as saying.
He added that for a few seconds, he felt unsettled, but then he continued with his speech. He called the act disturbing and shocking.
Prof Habib said universities should be places where different voices are heard and respected. He also said he was worried for a few minutes because he did not know what had been thrown at him. Later, he confirmed that it was only water. He added that he had spoken at Delhi University many times before and such an incident had never happened earlier.
Videos of the moment were widely shared on social media soon after.
After the incident, AISA accused members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) of trying to disrupt the event. It said the separate festival was organised to oppose the official university festival being used as a platform for “regressive propaganda and communal rhetoric”.
However, ABVP strongly denied the allegations. Delhi state secretary Sarthak Sharma said the charges were “completely baseless and false”. He said the organisation had no role in the incident and accused Left student groups of spreading misinformation to defame ABVP.
The Samta Utsav event included discussions on issues such as “Caste in Society and University” and “Anti-Caste Poetry and Songs”. The organisers also called for the implementation of the proposed UGC Equity Regulations, 2026.
Prof Habib, in his address, spoke about what he described as attempts at “historical erasure”. He said universities must question and challenge what he called distorted versions of history. Several other academics were also invited to speak at the event.
Questions on Security
The incident has raised fresh questions about campus security and the political atmosphere at Delhi University. Students and teachers have debated whether enough steps are being taken to ensure safety during public events.
So far, there has been no official statement about any action against the unidentified person who threw the water.
The episode has once again highlighted the sharp political divide between student groups on campus and the need for peaceful dialogue in university spaces.
Prof Habib, born in 1953, is a noted historian of science and a public intellectual. He is known for his research on the social and cultural history of science in colonial India. He earlier held the Abul Kalam Azad Chair at the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration in New Delhi.
Prof Habib studied modern Indian history and completed a doctorate on revolutionary movements in the 1920s freedom struggle. He taught at DAV (PG) College in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr, before joining the National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (NISTADS), where he worked from 1984 to 2009.
He has written and edited several important books.
