Why public intellectuals matter in present-day India

A student protest in 2021 demanding the release of all political prisoners, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. | Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA The term ‘public intellectual’ has an interesting origin. As Romila Thapar informs us, it was used in connection with Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish captain in the French army who was believed to have leaked secrets to the German army. Later, it was found that he had not done anything of the kind and was declared innocent. When he was facing charges of having leaked secrets, many artists, teachers, poets and writers came together in support of him. These people came to be called public intellectuals.A public intellectual is essentially a person who engages with the issues of the day and takes a position in support of what she believes to be true and right. She needs to raise questions about social, political and economic issues of the day using reasoned arguments so that societies would become better places to live in. A public intellectual is somebody who seeks to constantly reaffirm the foundational principles of social justice, human dignity and fraternity. Published - September 16, 2026 08:00 am IST