As members of the academic community in India, we the undersigned, stand in solidarity with students across the country protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens of India (NRC). Fundamentally discriminatory and unjust, CAA-NRC contradict the founding principles of the Indian Constitution and undermine international human rights conventions such as the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Act institutionalizes discrimination based on religion, besides threatening the interests of indigenous people of the North-Eastern states.

We strongly condemn the violent repression of student protests in educational institutions across India. Targeted police action against Jamia Millia Islamia, Aligarh Muslim University and the killing of youth in Assam, contributes to deepening divisive forces in the country. The intrusion of state machinery into educational institutions destroys safe spaces for debate and discussion. Students, like any Indian citizen, have the fundamental right to peacefully protest. Such suppression of dissent undermines the very ethos of an educational institution and the secular functioning of our democracy.

We are shocked by the continued detention of peaceful protesters across the country and the imposition of Section 144. We demand that the police forces be held accountable for their brutalities and excesses. We express our solidarity with student protests across campuses and stand with all those fighting to end the injustice of the CAA and NRC.

A group of Faculty, Ex-faculty, Students and Alumni

Indian Institute of Management Calcutta

If you wish to voice your opinion, please fill the following form