A frenzied row on free speech and nationalism knocked on the doors of the city's Jamia Millia Islamia university on Tuesday after engulfing the prestigious JNU and DU in signs of growing ideological unrest at India's premier educational institutions.

BJP leader Shazia Ilmi was allegedly not allowed to speak by the Jamia administration at a seminar organised to discuss the controversial triple talaq issue on February 16.

The event was then rescheduled for February 28 and the list of speakers changed.

BJP leader Shazia Ilmi was allegedly not allowed to speak by the administration on the controversial Islamic divorce issue of triple talaq

The agenda too was scaled down from a straightforward discussion on the instant divorce practice to that on empowerment of Muslim women.

Even then, there were several calls of 'shame' when Muslim speakers lighted the ceremonial lamp, calling it anti-Quranic.

There were several disruptions too, culminating in protesters storming and capturing the stage.

The incident came against the backdrop of a raging controversy at Delhi University with the ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) accused of setting off violent clashes at Ramjas College over an invitation to JNU student leader Umar Khalid.

Jamia student protest against lamp light during the debate on Muslim women's Empowerment in Jamia Millia Islamia University on Monday

The ABVP, which leads the DU students' union, has charged the college with 'anti-national activities' because Khalid is accused of sedition and is out on bail.

He and some other JNU students hit the headlines a year ago when anti-India slogans were raised during an event held at the university to commemorate the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

The brainstorming session at Jamia was organised by the RSS-supported Forum For Awareness Of National Security (FANS) that counts Sangh leader Indresh Kumar as its chief patron.

The organisers claim they were pressurised by the varsity administration that allegedly said BJP leaders could not be allowed to speak on the campus.

Students hold placards as they shout slogans during a protest march outside Delhi University against the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) students wing of Bharatiya Janata Party

'If Omar Khalid and Shehla Rashid can be invited to Ramjas for a talk, why can't Meenakshi Lekhi or I speak at Jamia? Freedom of speech cuts both ways,' Ilmi told Mail Today.

'After the invitation, there was no confirmation. Organisers must have felt uncomfortable, must have been under pressure.'

Her comments came on a day DU student Gurmehar Kaur, who alleged rape threats over her social media campaign against ABVP, pulled out of a protest march against the campus violence.

The daughter of a fallen soldier has also been trolled online for a video post in which she appealed for peace between India and Pakistan through placards with messages. One read: 'Pakistan did not kill my dad, war killed him.'

Ilmi added: 'When (writer and liberal activist) Tarek Fatah gets manhandled by a mob, (yoga guru) Ramdev or (author) Taslima Nasreen is stopped from appearing at an event, why doesn't the Left gang come out to protest? Freedom of expression seems to be selective for them.'

The Jamia administration tried to downplay the issue.

Dean Mehtab Alam did not reply directly to questions on whether the administration pressurised the organisers.

'I also have heard such a story that we did not let them speak,' he said.

Indresh Kumar panned the moves to scuttle the seminar.

'These so called champions of freedom of speech are actually anti-nationals because they are anti-Constitution of India. Triple talaq is nowhere approved of in Islam.

'Only few leftists and pseudointellectuals who have a vested interest in keeping the Muslim community backward are making a hue and cry over such debates,' he told Mail Today.

BJP spokesperson and SC advocate Nalin Kohli told Mail Today free speech was circumscribed by 'reasonable' restrictions in the Constitution, which have been defined therein.

'Those who claim privileges under the Constitution have to bear in mind they are duty-bound not to block privileges enjoyed by fellow citizens,' he said.