Citizens Committee for the Defense
of Democracy
The Citizens Committee for
the Defense of Democracy strongly
condemns the clampdown in Jawaharlal
Nehru University. We deplore the targeting
of students and teachers and condemn the
culture of authoritarian menace that
the
Central Government has unleashed. We
strongly believe that dissent is not
sedition
and invoking sedition laws against students,
ordering the police to enter the
campus and
unlawfully arresting a student
leader, issuing
warrants against many others on
charges of
inciting violence, attacking
students, teachers
and arrested student in the court
premises,
are serious assault on the
fundamental rights of
the citizens of this country. The
right to dissent is
fundamental to maintaining democracy
and the recent developments have
shaken the
foundations of democracy. We condemn the
indiscriminate use of the colonial
law of sedition
on dissenting voices.
The attack on JNU is an attack on
our diversity,
on public funding of universities
and access
to higher education for the common
people.
The vicious campaign of ‘tax-payers’
monies
funding the anti-nationals ’ is
highly regressive
and malicious. It is only through public
funding and reservation policies
that access to
higher education has been expanded for students
from all backgrounds, especially
girl students from
poorer backgrounds. It is public funding which
makes higher education accessible to
many.
We are pained and angry that a
public institution
of higher learning has been attacked with
such viciousness, systematically and
calculatedly.
JNU offers a vibrant space for learning,
questioning, debating and developing
a political
understanding of structural
injustices.
We are extremely concerned that the
police is
completely turned into a silent
spectator as
students, teachers and activists are
publicly
assaulted and abused, and hate and
violence
is incited against agitating
students. The police is
openly issuing such loaded
statements,
which law abiding citizens perceive
as threatening.
To disagree and question is every
citizen’s right
and the JNU students are only exercising
their right, peacefully and with utmost restraint
and
civility. We are particularly
concerned about the
safety of our young women and men
students who
are being intimidated by the
University administration,
police and the marauding mobs which have been
unleashed on the students in the vicinity of
JNU
and in and around the Court where
cases against
accused student is being heard.
We deplore the labeling of
“anti-national” of those
who are exercising their democratic right of
challenging the majoritarian
orthodoxy. We believe
that this will render this country
intellectually
poorer if critical thinking is pushed to a
space
which is reserved for the enemy.
We condemn sections of the visual
and print
media for their open partisanship,
irresponsible
coverage, misreporting, and blacking out news
and views of the striking students.
We feel it is time for all thinking
people of this
city to come together and raise our collective
voices in defense of academic
freedom, right to
dissent and defend the spaces for democratic
dissent.
We unequivocally demand that
1.
All cases and charges should be withdrawn against
all JNU students immediately and
unconditionally.
The matter should have been handled
by a responsible
committee internal to JNU, with a fair
representation
of teachers, rather than calling in the
police.
2.
The administration of JNU should be
held accountable
for dereliction of duty, collaborating with
the Police in
falsely charging the students, enabling the
police to search
university premises and hostels and
arrest students at the
expense of internal processes and without
consulting the
university faculty and office bearers. The
University
administration’s bowing to the
government pressure
compromised University autonomy with
serious
implications for the careers of
students and prospects
of pursuing degrees.
3.
No police should be allowed to enter
the campus and all
plainclothes police be removed from the campus
immediately.
4.
No University premises including the
hostels should be
checked by anyone other than the
university administration
and only in the presence of the wardens.
5.
Delhi police should restrain the
menacing gangs roaming
about in the vicinity of JNU
intimidating the students,
teachers and solidarity groups. We
demand that rather than
unleashing these mobs on the
University community with a
malicious intent, effective steps should be
taken to prevent
such mobs from indulging in mischief.
6.
Police should act responsibly,
performs its duty and
ensures safety of the students, teachers
and solidarity
groups in courts and in public spaces and
allow them to
exercise their lawful rights of voicing their
concerns.
Romila Thapar, Krishna Sobti,
Harbans Mukhia, Harsh
Mander, Navsharan Singh, Nalini
Taneja, Asad Zaidi,
Mangalesh Dabral, Subhash Gatade, Uma
Chakravarty,
Syeda Hameed; Sukumar Muralidharan,
Prabir Purkayastha,
Puneet Bedi, Rahul Roy, Saba Dewan, Urvashi
Butalia,
Tapan Bose, Nandita Narain, Peggy
Mohan, Farah Naqvi,
Neeraj Malik, Javed Malik, Jawrimal
Parakh, Devaki Jain,
Dinesh Mohan, Prabhat Patnaik,
Bharat Bhushan, Dunu Roy,
Jean Dreze, Tanika Sarkar, Sumit
Sarkar, Warisha
Farasat, Seema Mustafa, Farida Khan,
Salil Mishra
9868344843
9868126587
