The following is a statement from the alumni of NLU Jodhpur, in solidarity with the students at the receving end of police brutalities in Delhi, Aligarh, Assam and other universities.

We, the undersigned alumni of National Law University, Jodhpur unequivocally condemn the police excesses in response to student protests at Jamia Milia Islamia University, Delhi University, Aligarh Muslim University, Dibrugarh University, Gauhati University, Cotton University, Assam and other universities across India. As persons with training in constitutional laws and values, we recognize the significance of dissenting speech and assembly, and the need to preserve academic spaces as free from State coercion and militarization and to uphold the values of secularism.

The police brutality, on the night of 15th December 2019 and thereafter, follow from the equally condemnable imposition of curfew, deployment of the army and arbitrary internet shutdowns in Assam and crackdown against dissenters and student-led protests in Assam. The events of the recent past also represent a continuation of the policing of academic institutions to silence  dissenting voices by students as well as the erosion of the autonomy of universities. The freedom of academic institutions from State presence, not least from State violence, is crucial to the exercise of free expression and democratic debate.

In this vein, we condemn equally the catalyst of the protests – the enactment of the egregiously discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA), plans to initiate a nation-wide National Register of Citizens (NRC), and all the current and planned majoritarian attempts by the Indian Government to attack the touchstones of constitutional ethos including, diversity, inclusivity, pluralism and secularism. The CAA draws distinctions based only on religion and ethnicity. A combination of the NRC and the CAA, apart from being unconstitutional, will result in onerous requirements for the proof of legitimate citizenship on persons from marginalized communities, particularly religious minorities.

We recognize that dialogue on legislation is not restricted to State institutions such as the Government or Parliament or Judiciary. Attempts to silence dissent through militarization, police excesses and communication shutdowns, eliminates  individuals’ right of participation in public affairs and the right to democracy – rights that the Constitution of India guarantees. While the Supreme Court of India that has held such  fundamental rights of the protesting students hostage to conditions, we unequivocally condemn the resort to State violence and demand appropriate accountability unconditionally.

As students of the law, we recognize that dissent is the backbone of a democracy and that freedom of speech is one of the most cherished rights in a diverse and inclusive society. We therefore stand in solidarity with the protestors and students at Jamia Milia Islamia, Aligarh Muslim University, Dibrugarh University,  Gauhati University, Cotton University, Assam, as well as students protesting the CAA, NRC and majoritarian thought in university campuses across India, and affirm the rights of peaceful assembly and the freedom of thought, speech and expression enshrined in the Constitution of India and various international human rights laws that bind India.

In solidarity.

Alumni, National Law University, Jodhpur