We, the undersigned students, faculty, staff, and other members of the University of Illinois community are in solidarity with students, faculty and staff at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), India, against the ongoing anti-democratic actions by the Indian state. We demand an immediate end to the police action against students on campus, and withdrawal of all charges against Kanhaiya Kumar, President of the JNU Students’ Union. We unequivocally condemn the witch hunting of students, using archaic laws of sedition, who organized the cultural event questioning capital punishment and the deliberate vandalism and violence unleashed by those affiliated with Hindu Nationalist groups. We are also dismayed at the violence used by lawyers aligned with the government in their acts of vigilantism which are aimed at using the garb of patriotism to impose their ideology through violence.
We strongly believe that the charge of sedition against Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and the other 6 students are based on spurious evidence. This arrest is an excuse for the state to root out dissenting voices on JNU campus, a move towards converting educational institutions like JNU into an arm of the authoritarian state. Attempts of a similar nature have been witnessed recently at other Indian educational institutions such as Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and Hyderabad University. The growing threat to academic freedom and the practice of fundamental thinking and critique, posed by the current political climate is transnational, and extends beyond India to other parts of the world–it is a threat we face here in the United States, too.

For any word or action to qualify as being “seditious” under Indian law, it has to directly issue a call to violence in front of a gathered mob capable of such violence. This was not the nature of the protest held by a group of JNU students against the judiciary’s decision regarding Afzal Guru. His conviction and the subsequent hanging has been questioned repeatedly by legal scholars, jurors, lawyers, writers, and academics. The peaceful protest held on February 9 on campus was not unlike other protests convened at the university over the last several decades. Further, the sedition law the Indian state is using to target democratic students at JNU is a colonial-era law originally imposed by the British Empire to keep its subjects in line. Britain itself has since abolished sedition as a criminal offense.
Dissent is an essential part of a healthy democracy. We therefore strongly condemn the Indian government’s response to the students’ protests and demand that the state refrain from authoritarian behaviour. In this spirit, we urge the Vice Chancellor of JNU to protect members of the university community and safeguard their democratic rights. We also urge the Central Government to immediately withdraw any police investigation into the case and leave the matter to the autonomous bodies of Jawaharlal Nehru University.
 
Further signatures available at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/university-of-illinois-stands-with-jnu-india
 
Signed, as of 14:00 GMT 19^th Feb 2016 –
Tariq Khan, History
Utathya, History
Tariq Omar Ali
Natalie Nagel
Kristina Clarke-Khan
Umair Rasheed, CSAMES alumnus
Sunny Ture, Education
Muhammad Yousuf
Sara Feldman, Jewish Culture and Society
Brandon Hudspeth
Rajashekar Iyer
Raha Behnam
Deirdre Ruscitti Harshman
Kadeem Fuller
Harry Mickalide
Shwetha
Megan White, History
Mohammed Sheikh, Physics
Shikha Lakhanpal
Apoorv
Jyoti Aneja
Pronoy Rai
Padmaja
Aristotelis Panagiotopoulos
Peter Wright
Andrea Herrera
Alisha Elliott
Michelle Kenny
Marillia Correa Kuyumjian
Anustup Basu
Estibalitz Ezkerra
Rebecca Ginsburg
Richard Hamilton
Amita
Anil Bera
Aparajita Zutshi
Perla Torres
Sreoshi Banerjee
Prakrati
Mark Sanchez
Sharmila Ghosh
Elchin Gulaliyev
Stuart Levy
Dola B
Mousumi Mukherjee
Daniel Werst, UIUC Graduate
Jayadev Athreya, Adjunct Associate Professor of Mathematics
Meghan Bohardt
Bryan Parthum
 

We, activists and academics in the Pennsylvania region, strongly condemn the attack on academic freedom at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. The arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar, the President of the JNU Student’s Union, on charges of sedition has brought to light the intervention of the Union Government in the internal matters of the university. The repeated interference by police personnel at the behest of Vice Chancellors on university campuses is a draconian move. The charges against students were brought after an event organized by a section of students on campus premises to discuss the judicial execution of Afzal Guru. The JNU Students’ Union was subsequently held responsible for the “anti-national” slogans that were chanted by a group of students. We condemn these trumped-up and unconstitutional charges and stand in solidarity with the efforts to repeal capital punishment in India.

The events unfolding at JNU reveal disturbing similarities with instances of government repression on other campuses. We remember, with distress, the actions of the University of Hyderabad (UoH) administration in cahoots with the Central Government, actions that led to the death of a promising Ambedkarite student-activist, Rohith Vemula. The protests that arose indicted the discriminatory atmosphere prevailing in our universities as tantamount to the denial of the fundamental right to education to socially marginalized groups. Further, the murder of social thinkers like Govind Pansare and M.M. Kalburgi by hyper-nationalist elements under the tacit encouragement of the policies of the Central Government has shocked all advocates of free speech in India.

The charges of sedition against students participating in democratic discussion of public events is highly objectionable. The stifling of voices through intimidation and muscle power does not bode well for educational institutions.

Debate and dissent are integral parts of a strong democracy. Universities are critical public spaces that support these democratic practices to realize the values of social justice enshrined in the ideals of the constitution. International campuses like JNU, FTII and UoH bring together diverse group of students in the spirit of self-reflexive and deep intellectual engagement to ask fundamental questions of their social realities. An attack on these institutions is an attack on this precious pedagogical space. Student movements in India in alliance with other social movements in the country have historically been a resilient and sensitive force. The BJP government’s efforts to undermine them is nothing but an assault on Indian democracy. The government has failed to protect the rights of student bodies, and the highhandedness of the police highlights the insecurities of the present government.

In the United States during a presidential election year, we watch increasingly bigoted views against blacks, Muslims, and immigrants gaining ground. These events cannot be seen in isolation and we stand at the intersection of socio-political movements in the US and South Asia.
We stand in solidarity with students and faculty of JNU and demand the immediate release of the detained students. We appeal to all advocates for academic freedom in India and abroad to stand united against this state atrocity.

1. Anannya Bohidar, Graduate Student, South Asia Studies, University of Pennsylvania
2. Ammel Sharon, Graduate Student, South Asia Studies, University of Pennsylvania
3. Meghna Chandra, Philadelphia South Asian Collective
4. Ania Loomba, English, University of Pennsylvania
5. Projit Mukharji, History and Sociology of Science, University of Pennsylvania
6. Najnin Islam, Graduate Student, English, University of Pennsylvania

1. Suvir Kaul, English, University of Pennsylvania
2. Rallapalli Sundaram, South Asia Studies, University of Pennsylvania
3. Teren Sevea, South Asia Studies, University of Pennsylvania
4. Debjani Bhattacharyya, History, Drexel University
5. Kasturi Sen, Lawyer for the Defender Association of Philadelphia and Philadelphia South Asian Collective.
6. Toorjo Ghose, Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania
7. Ishani Dasgupta, Graduate Student, South Asia Studies, University of Pennsylvania
8. Shampa Chatterjee, Medical School, University of Pennsylvania
9. Lucas de Lima, Graduate Student, Comparative Literature, University of Pennsylvania
10. Sangeeta Banerji, Graduate Student, Geography, Rutgers University
11. Sarita Mizin, Graduate Student, English, Lehigh University
12. Aashish Gupta, Graduate Student, Demography, University of Pennsylvania
13. Shourjya Deb, Graduate Student, Public Policy and Administration, Rutgers University
14. Sugra Bibi, University of Pennsylvania
15. Samira Junaid, Graduate Student, South Asia Studies, University of Pennsylvania
16. Nandita Chaturvedi, Graduate Student, Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania
17. Muhammed Malik, with Philadelphia South Asia Collective
18. Joshua Pien, South Asia Studies, University of Pennsylvania
19. Sirus Joseph Libeiro, Graduate Student, School of Design, University of Pennsylvania
20. Sambuddha Chaudhuri, Graduate Student, School of Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania
21. Tanushree Bhan, Graduate Student, Public Policy and Public Affairs, University of Massachusetts Boston
22. Pooja Nayak, Graduate Student, South Asia Studies, University of Pennsylvania.
23. Kaushik Ramu, Graduate Student, Comparative Literature, University of Pennsylvania
24. Darakhshan Khan, Graduate Student, South Asia Studies, University of Pennsylvania
25. Timothy J. Loftus, Graduate Student, Religion, Temple University
26. Mercedes Yanora, Graduate Student, South Asia Studies, University of Pennsylvania
27. Faisal I Chaudhry, South Asia Studies, University of Pennsylvania
28. Sudev J Sheth, Graduate Student, South Asia Studies, University of Pennsylvania
29. Brooke Stanley, Graduate Student, English, University of Pennsylvania
30. Melissa E. Sanchez, English, University of Pennsylvania
31. Hao Jun Tam, Graduate Student, English, University of Pennsylvania
32. David Kazanjian, English, University of Pennsylvania
33. Aaron Bartels-Swindells, Graduate Student, English, University of Pennsylvania
34. Manjita Mukharji, South Asia Studies, University of Pennsylvania
35. Diksha Dhar, Graduate Student, Fulbright-Nehru Visiting Scholar (visiting), University of Pennsylvania.
36. Faranak Miraftab, Urban and Regional Planning, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
37. Timothy Lorndale, Graduate Student, South Asia Studies, University of Pennsylvania.
38. Brittany Puller, Graduate Student, South Asia Studies, University of Pennsylvania.
39. Philip Friedrich, Graduate Student, South Asia Studies, University of Pennsylvania.
40. Dave Kussell, Undergraduate, Economic History, University of Pennsylvania.
41. Jared Weinstein, Undergraduate, Math, University of Pennsylvania.
42. Pushkar Sohoni, South Asia Studies, University of Pennsylvania.
43. Akshay Walia, Graduate Student, Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania.
44. Lavanya Nott, Philadelphia South Asia Collective.
45. Leopold Eisenlohr, Graduate Student, Chinese, University of Pennsylvania.
46. Evelyn Soto, Graduate Student, English, University of Pennsylvania.
47. Johanna Greeson, Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania.
48. Julia Chatterjee, Undergraduate, South Asia Studies, University in Pennsylvania.
49. Josephine Park, English, University of Pennsylvania.
50. Priti Narayan, Graduate Student, Geography, Rutgers University.
51. Monidipa (Mimi) Mondal, Graduate Student, Creative Writing, Rutgers University.
52. Baishakh Chakrabarti, Graduate Student, South Asia Studies, University of Pennsylvania.
53. Chao Guo, Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania.
54. Ram Cnaan, Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania.
55. Femida Handy, Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania.
56. Ezekiel Dixon-Roman, Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania.
57. Andrea Doyle, Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania.
58. Sheena Sood, Philadelphia South Asia Collective.
59. Rovel Sequeira, Graduate Student, English, University of Pennsylvania
60. Daniel Davies, Graduate Student, English, University of Pennsylvania
61. David L. Eng, English, University of Pennsylvania
62. Nancy J. Hirschmann, Political Science, University of Pennsylvania
63. Kalyan Nadiminti, Graduate Student, English, University of Pennsylvania
64. James English, Director, Penn Humanities Forum, University of Pennsylvania
65. Micah Del Rosario, Graduate Student, English, University of Pennsylvania
66. Chi-Ming Yang, English, University of Pennsylvania.
67. Jean-Christophe Cloutier, English, University of Pennsylvania
68. Andrew Lamas, Urban Studies, University of Pennsylvania
69. Amy Kaplan, English, University of Pennsylvania.
70. Jed Esty, English, University of Pennsylvania.
71. Prachi Priyam, Philadelphia South Asia Collective.
72. Michael Gamer, English, University of Pennsylvania.
73. Timothy Corrigan, English, University of Pennsylvania.
74. Paul Saint-Amour, English, University of Pennsylvania.
75. Monika Bhagat-Kennedy, Graduate Student, English, University of Pennsylvania.
76. Fatima Tassadiq, Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania
77. Hariprasad Kowtha, Philadelphia South Asian Collective
78. Rahul Mukherjee, Cinema Studies, University of Pennsylvania.
79. Eram Alam, History and Sociology of Science, University of Pennsylvania.
80. Jazmin Delgado, Graduate Student, English, University of Pennsylvania.

We, the undersigned—who study and work at Ashoka University, as well as the alumni of the Young India Fellowship, in our private capacity—write to voice our solidarity with the students and faculty at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Recent events at JNU, including the arrest of the JNUSU President over the charge of sedition, as well as other disproportionate measures, amount to a deeply troubling attack on academic and cultural freedom. We strongly condemn the display of brute force by the police, who were given free entry to the campus, including hostels, to question, detain and arrest students and faculty members. We protest the lack of police protection to those students and faculty, and condemn the use of State force against democratic expressions of dissent.As proponents of liberal education, we believe that societies can only grow when they foster intellectual engagement with fundamental social questions and contemporary political issues through non-violent debate and argumentation. University campuses are, and should be, autonomous spaces where people can peacefully express as well as challenge dissent and opinions. However, the recent spate of events involving many university campuses across the country has posed a serious threat to the sanctity of such spaces as well as the democratic right to dissent and freedom of speech and expression. This includes the turn of events that led to Rohith Vemula’s death at the University of Hyderabad, the withholding of grants by the Ministry of Human Resource Development to Panjab University, and several instances of violent disruption of the screening of the film Muzaffarnagar Baaqi Hai in campuses across the country.

We condemn the State-backed misuse of the charge of sedition, a colonial era provision in the Indian Penal Code, against the JNUSU President, Kanhaiya Kumar. In the documented absence of any allegedly ‘anti-national’ actions or rhetoric on his part, we see the charge as an attempt to stifle dissent from the dominant order and silence critique of the State. We strongly believe that the provision against sedition, which was repealed in the United Kingdom itself in 2009, has no place in modern democracy. Most immediately, we strongly disapprove of the action of certain lawyers and a Member of the Legislative Assembly who physically attacked JNU students and faculty members as well as journalists outside the Patiala Court House premises on 15th February, 2016.

We fear that the continued State inaction against such instances of violence will foster an environment in which the label “anti-national” or “traitor” can be imposed on every voice of dissent.
We urge that:

– the JNU campus be restored to normalcy and the police be withdrawn from all parts of the campus.
– the JNUSU President, Kanhaiya Kumar be released from police custody immediately and all charges be dropped against him.
– such unconstitutional actions be denounced.
– we be allowed to nurture our universities as tolerant, democratic spaces where dissent and disagreement is respected, discussions are nurtured, and critical thinkers are born.
 

We, the undersigned, students and research students from various states of northeastern region of India studying in Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai would like to highlight on the unprecedented shrinkage of academic spaces across various universities in India. We condemn the politically motivated interferences of the state in Jawaharlal Nehru University and in Hyderabad Central University (HCU), and other universities. We also condemn the mob justice perpetrated by lawyers against students, journalist, activists etc in the Patiala House Courts, New Delhi, and media trial led by prominent journalists from New Delhi.

Additionally, we would like to counter the claim of Delhi Police on terming consumption of beef in the light of JNU incident as anti-national activity. Going by this yardstick, students coming from northeastern region who consume beef will not fit into the notion of nationalism defined by the Delhi Police.  This indicates that the discourse of nationalism in India has to become broader in scope so that it can engage and acknowledge concerns of people from marginalised sections. Reducing the current incident into the binaries of nationalism and anti-nationalism will isolate and exclude issues of tribal people, Dalits, Muslims etc. There is a need to distinguish between dissent and anti-national activity.

In this platform, we would also like to mention about the omission of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) from the eligibility list in the online application form for National Fellowships for Higher Education for ST Students (NFST) where ST students pursuing MPhil/PhD from TISS were not able to apply for this fellowship. Meanwhile, similar UGC fellowships for SC and OBC students from TISS are still operational. Such step discourages and demotivates ST students who are mostly first generation students to take up higher studies in their pursuits for academic career. We seek intervention from the Centre and concerned authorities on this issue.

The patterns across various universities orchestrated by ABVP and right wing politics are disturbing. The recent incident of Rohith Vemula from HCU which has shaken the consciences of everyone is reflexive of everyday discriminations, and atrocities meted out to Dalits. The turn of events coming out from JNU has diminished the building up of momentum on seeking justice for Rohith Vemula. We sense larger politics at play from the ruling government on evading Rohith Vemula’s case, and of UGC non-net fellowship. In the interest of academic spaces and free thinking, and democratic values, we appeal for immediate release of Kanhaiya Kumar of JNU, reconsideration of charges against Umar Khalid of JNU and other students, and fulfilment of justice for Rohith Vemula. We extend our solidarity with JNU, HCU, IIT-M, FTII and other universities/institutes, and autonomy of universities, spaces for debate, discussion and dissent (including issues like AFSPA, developmental projects, and rights of indigenous people etc) should be upheld and protected.

1. Richard Kamei
2. Dominic Leo
3. Apao Remai
4. Philemon Shangne
5. Roderick Wijunamai
6. Albert Povah
7. Zajano Yanthan
8. Akash Basumatari
9. Saurav
10. Karabi
11. Samar Rabha
12. Zaza Kipgen
13. Nemy Tombing
14. Vaiphei
15. Clearance Mawite
16. Ashonshok
17. Duan Kamei
18. Verahu Therie
19. Sonam Choden
20. Benjamin Haokip
21. Sinmi Rungsung
22. Somingam Hungpung
23. Domela