'CAA & NRC Force Democracy To Give Way To Majoritarianism': Law Teachers Across The Globe Express Solidarity With Student Protestors[Read Statement]

We, the undersigned teachers and researchers of law, strongly condemn the police brutality on the peaceful protest by the students at Jamia Milia Islamia, Aligarh Muslim University and other universities. On 15 December 2019 police entered the Jamia Milia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, and assaulted and detained the students. Students were dragged out of campus, and were paraded outside with hands raised. We believe that the action of the police is an attempt to suppress dissent and is an attack on the autonomy of the universities. The police action violates, inter alia, the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under the Constitution of India and international law instruments to which India is a state party. We emphasize that academic institutions are an arena of discussion, debate and dissent, and the peremptory and ultimate objective of universities is to speak truth to power. By using force against the students, the government has struck at the heart of the culture of protests. Through measures like CAA and NRC, democracy is being forced to give way to majoritarianism. We believe that CAA and NRC violate every value the Constitution of India seeks to preserve. Besides, the said policies do not satisfy the touchstone of any civilized community. We also believe that the restoration of constitutional standards necessitates meaningful engagement with the dissenting voices against the CAA and NRC. We also realize that not speaking up against the police action and CAA amounts to complicity in the subversion of the constitutional values by the government. Attack on the academic institutions and the consistent effort to undermine dissent by the state institutions presents the imperative need to save the Indian democracy, pluralism and social inclusiveness. Therefore, we appeal to everyone to stand in solidarity to resist the ongoing erosion of the rule of law, constitutionalism and religious harmony. We further reiterate that peaceful protest is a democratic right protected by the fundamental law of the country and India's international law obligations, and the same should be recognised and respected. We stand in solidarity with the protesting students and citizens against CAA and NRC. In solidarity S.no Name (Alphabetical order) Institutional Affiliation 1. Abdullah Nasir Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University 2. Adam Sitze Amherst College 3. A. Khan University of Melbourne 4. Aditya Roy South Asian University 5. Amar Bhatia Osgoode Hall Law, York University 6. Amita Dhanda NALSAR 7. Amrithnath SB Faculty of Law, University of Delhi 8. Anjali N Jamia Millia Islamia 9. Anumeha Mishra Faculty of Law ,University of Delhi 10. Anup Surendranath Assistant Professor of Law, National Law University, Delhi 11. Anurag Bhaskar Harvard Law School 12. Aparna Chandra National Law University Delhi 13. Aquib Husain Jamia Millia Islamia 14. Arijeet Ghosh Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative 15. Arnika Tiwari Indraprastha University 16. Avnish Singh Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University 17. Ayush Rahi Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University 18. Balakrishnan Rajagopal Massachusetts Institute of Technology 19. Bayar Goswami McGill University 20. Ben Golder UNSW 21. Bushra South Asian University 22. Chindhu Joseph Central University of Kerala 23. Deepak Kumar Jawaharlal Nehru University 24. Dharmesh Kumar Shaheed Bhagat Singh Law College, Jaipur 25. Dorothea Grose-Forrester University of Cambridge, Cambridge 26. Dwayne Leonardo Fernandes Jawaharlal Nehru University 27. Ezekial Jarain Faculty of Law, University of Delhi 28. Farhana ...

'CAA & NRC Force Democracy To Give Way To Majoritarianism': Law Teachers Across The Globe Express Solidarity With Student Protestors[Read Statement]

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