The following is a statement issued by faculty members of South Asian University on the recent police excesses against peacefully protesting students and other citizens.

We, the undersigned teachers of the South Asian University, New Delhi are deeply disturbed by the developments at the Jamia Milia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University in the last few days.

As it is well documented now through the media reports and eye witness accounts of students, on 15 December 2019 police entered the Jamia Milia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University and assaulted and detained the students who were peacefully protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

We underline that universities are places for critical thinking and for expression of ideas. Use of force against the students protesting peacefully against the CAA and NRC violates the right to peaceful assembly, freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under the Constitution of India.

We strongly condemn the highhanded action of the police on students peacefully protesting against the CAA and NRC. We urge the Government of India and other state governments to refrain from using force against the peacefully protesting students and other citizens across India. We also request the Government of India to investigate the assault on the peacefully protesting students, identify the perpetrators, take appriopriate action and reestablish the trust in the rule of law.

We stand in solidarity with the peacefully protesting students and citizens against CAA and NRC.

1. Anirban Dasgupta, Faculty of Economics
2. Ankur Datta, Department of Sociology
3. Bijoy Chand Chatterjee, Department of Computer Science
4. Binoy Goswami, Faculty of Economics
5. Danish Lohani, Department of Mathematics
6. Dhananjay Tripathi, Department of International Relations
7. Diya Mehra, Department of Sociology
8. Irfanullah Farooqi, Department of Sociology
9. Ishita Dey, Department of Sociology
10. Jayashree Vivekanandan, Department of International Relations
11. Mallika Shakya, Department of Sociology
12. Medha Bisht, Department of International Relations
13. Muhammad Abulaish, Department of Computer Science
14. Nabarun Roy, Department of International Relations
15. Namrata Gulati, Faculty of Economics
16. Prabhash Ranjan, Faculty of Legal Studies
17. Pranab K Muhuri, Department of Computer Science
18. Ravi Kumar, Department of Sociology
19. Sai Ramani Garimella, Faculty of Legal Studies
20. Sasanka Perera, Department of Sociology
21. Shweta Singh, Department of International Relations
22. Soumita Basu, Department of International Relations
23. Soumya Datta, Faculty of Economics
24. Srinivas Burra, Faculty of Legal Studies
25. Stellina jolly, Faculty of Legal Studies
26. Sunil Kumar, Faculty of Economics
27. Yuba Raj Pokharel, Faculty of Life Science and Biotechnology