Calcutta, Jan. 20 : Independent thinking and free expression in Indian universities “are now under threat” former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Friday, targeting the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. Singh, 84, said that the recent attempts to interfere with free expression of the student community in Hyderabad Central University and Jawaharlal Nehru University were of particular concern and termed suppression of peaceful dissent as “inimical to learning” and “undemocratic”.