Overview
- Organisers at the National Law School of India University postponed the planned screening of Lalit Vachani’s Umar Khalid documentary on Monday, September 14, citing logistical and security reasons.
- The Law & Society Committee and NLSIU said the postponement was a precaution and that the screening will be rescheduled within the current trimester while organisers denied yielding to external pressure.
- The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad escalated its campaign by writing to Union ministers Amit Shah, Pralhad Joshi and Arjun Ram Meghwal to demand permanent cancellation and a high‑level inquiry into NLSIU.
- Political leaders weighed in publicly, with Karnataka Congress chief B.K. Hariprasad defending Khalid and BJP figures rebutting that defence, and students held alternate reading sessions on Political Prisoners’ Day.
- The row ties into a wider national debate because Umar Khalid has been detained since September 2020 under the UAPA without trial and campuses across India have seen repeated clashes over whether certain events constitute academic discussion or glorification of unlawful acts.