500 scholars support Kanhaiya |
In an embarrassing development for the Narendra Modi government , nearly 500 academicians, economists and scholars of international repute have extended their support to the arrested leader of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Kanhaiya Kumar. Among those who have singed the ‘solidarity statement’ are scholars from Yale, SOAS in London, Cambridge University, University of Chicago etc. They said they stand in solidarity with the students, faculty and staff of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi against the illegal ongoing police action since February 9, 2016. They also affirm the autonomy of the university as a non-militarized space for freedom of thought and expression. The charge of sedition, under the guise of which the police have been given a carte blanche to enter the JNU campus, to raid student hostels, arrest and detain students, including Kanhaiya Kumar, the current president of the JNU Students Union, is an alibi for the incursion of an authoritarian regime onto the university campus. Under Indian law sedition applies only to words and actions that directly issue a call to violence. The peaceful demonstration and gathering of citizens does not constitute criminal conduct. An open, tolerant, and democratic society is inextricably linked to critical thought and expression cultivated by universities in India and abroad.
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