International Fraternity Extends Solidarity to JNU Community

As the BJP-led Centre and Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) continue to keep mum over the “planned attack” on students and teachers of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, international fraternity along with the people of India have stepped forward in solidarity with the JNU community.

The students from the University of Oxford on Monday evening demonstrated against the attack on JNU community.

A statement by a group of faculties from various universities across the world condemned the violence by a mob of masked persons allegedly belonging to the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on January 5, 2020.

The statement has been endorsed by around 200 including scholars from premier institutes across the world, writers and activists. It says that the silence of the university administration and inaction of Delhi police, which is being controlled by the Ministry of Home Affairs, is utterly shameful and it also, as per the statement, “exposes their collusion in these violent attacks”.

Read the full statement:

“We the undersigned strongly condemn the violence against JNU students and faculty on 5 January 2020, perpetrated in a coordinated and premeditated fashion by a large gang of armed and masked right-wing thugs including many belonging to the ABVP, an outfit affiliated to India’s ruling BJP. These attackers entered the university unchecked, and were given free rein to brutally assault and terrorise students including many women, and teachers and professors who were trying to protect them, as well as to vandalise university property. There are multiple reports of hospitalisation and extremely serious injuries, including to current JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh and chair of the CSRD (Centre for the Study of Regional Development) at JNU, Prof. Sucharita Sen, both of whom have sustained head injuries in the attacks. Doctors and medical volunteers attempting to aid the victims were also attacked and their ambulance was smashed.

The silence of the JNU administration and the inaction of the Delhi Police controlled by the Union Home Ministry has been utterly shameful and exposes their collusion in these violent attacks. The Delhi Police have allowed this violence to go on unabated over many hours even when the news of the attacks has spread on social media like wildfire. Rather than responding to the many calls for help and intervention, the police, having allowed the attackers into the campus unhindered, blocked the roads facilitating the continuation of the attacks. The armed thugs were then allowed to leave under the protection of the police.  

We are deeply concerned by the current wave of attacks on students, abetted or directly perpetrated by the Indian authorities. The latest attack on the students of JNU has come in the wake of the brutal police violence against students in Jamia Milia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University where peaceful protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens were taking place. This points to the systematic targeting of dissenting student voices and their right to protest within and outside universities. Further, this is taking place in an extremely disturbing context of sweeping repression accompanied by large scale attacks on minority communities.

In solidarity with students and faculty of JNU, we demand that as a matter of urgency the perpetrators are brought to book, that all concerned authorities are held accountable, and that the peaceful and vibrant democratic environment on campus for which JNU has long been known internationally is restored.”

Signed:

Prof Barbara Harriss-White (Visiting Professor CIS&LS, JNU and Wolfson College, Oxford University)

Prof Shirin Rai (University of Warwick)

Professor Pramila Krishnan (University of Oxford)

Prof Pritam Singh (Wolfson College, University of Oxford)

Professor Dev Saif Gangjee (University of Oxford)

Prof Bhaskar Vira (University of Cambridge)

Prof Meena Dhanda (University of Wolverhampton

Prof Valentina Vitali (University of East London)

Prof Virinder Kalra (University of Warwick)

Prof Des Freedman (Goldsmiths, University of London)

Prof Julia O’Connell Davidson (University of Bristol)

Prof Katharine Adeney (University of Nottingham)

Prof. Bishnupriya Gupta ( University of Warwick)

Prof Jonathan Parry (London School of Economics)

Prof Ben Rogaly (University of Sussex)

Prof. Katy Gardner (LSE)

Prof David Mosse (SOAS University of London)

Prof Maitreesh Ghatak (London School of Economics)

Prof Gurminder K Bhambra, (University of Sussex)

Prof Navtej Purewal (SOAS, London)

Prof. Jon Wilson (King’s College London)

Prof Barry Smart (University of Portsmouth)

Prof Bob Brecher (University of Brighton)

Emeritus Professor Max Farrar (Leeds Beckett University) UK

Emeritus Professor John Harriss (Simon Fraser University)

Prof Upamanyu Pablo Mukherjee (Warwick University, UK)

Professor Phiroze Vasunia (University College London)

Dr Kalpana Wilson (Birkbeck, University of London)

Dr Aditya Ray (The Open University)

Sarbjit Johal, South Asia Solidarity Group

Dr Meena Kandasamy, writer 

Satpal Muman (Chair, CasteWatchUK)

Santosh Dass, Anti Caste Discrimination Alliance 

 Amrit Wilson (writer)

Dr Nikita Sud (University of Oxford)

Dr Akanksha Mehta (Goldsmiths, University of London) 

Dr Sumi Madhok (London School of Economics)

Dr Feyzi Ismail (SOAS, University of London)

Dr Katy Sian (University of York) 

Ananya Wilson-Bhattacharya (The Norwich Radical)

Akriti Mehta (King's College London)

Dr Paroj Banerjee (London School of Economics)

Monica Gyamlani (National Film and Television School)

Shikha Dwivedi (SOAS, University of London)

Trishala C. Dutta (SOAS, University of London)

Niharika Pandit (London School of Economics)

Dr Alessandra Mezzadri (SOAS, University of London)

Yashaswinee Raje Singh (King’s College London)

Dr. Rashmi Varma (University of Warwick)

Gaurang Nanda ( Middlesex University )

Shreya Gupta (SOAS, University of London)

Nirmala Rajasingam (South Asia Solidarity Group)

Dr. Rahul Rao (SOAS University of London)

Tara Ghose (SOAS, University of London)

Dr Jens Lerche (SOAS, University of London)

Dr Lotika Singha (University of Wolverhampton)

Asna Arif (City,University Of London)

Dr Sanjay Jain (University of Oxford)

Syed Zain Mahdi (ASBS, University of Glasgow)

M Ghazali Khan (Journalist, London)

Dr. Subhasish Dey (University of Warwick) 

Dr Jayanthi Lingham (University of Warwick)

Dr Shakuntala Banaji (London School of Economics and Political Science)

Dr Nitasha Kaul, (University of Westminster)

Dr Subir Sinha (SOAS, London)

Dr Sharika Thiranagama ( Stanford University) 

Arup Daripa (Birkbeck)

Dr Alpa Shah (LSE)

Shreya Sinha (University of Cambridge)

Adrija Dey (SOAS)

Shailza Sharma (University of Exeter)

Michael Levien (Johns Hopkins University)

Jonathan Pattenden (University of East Anglia).

Dr. Ashvin Immanuel Devasundaram (Queen Mary, University of London)

Cllr Anjona Roy (Northamptonshire County Councillor, St George Division)

Dr Shalini Sharma (Keele University)

Dr Melanie Crofts (De Montfort University)

Poornima Kirloskar-Saini

Dr Kenneth Bo Nielsen (University of Oslo)

Savitri Hensman (King's College London)

Dr Suman Ghosh (Bath Spa University)

Dr. Siddharth Sareen (University of Bergen)

Jostein Jakobsen (University of Oslo)

Mukesh Kulriya (University of California, Los Angeles) 

Dr Ranju T Dhawan, Imperial College NHS Healthcare Trust 

Dr. Rohan Deb Roy, University of Reading

Dr. Anwesha Dutta, Chr. Michelsen Institute, Bergen, Norway

Meher Pandey (London School of Economics and Political Science)

Krithika Dinesh (University of East Anglia)

Dr Taylor C Sherman (LSE) 

Dr. Anat Pick (Queen Mary University of London)

Dr Divya Sharma (University of Sussex)

Dr Victoria Margree (University of Brighton)

Dr Srila Roy (University of the Witwatersrand) 

Dr Mukulika Banerjee (LSE)

Dr Waseem Yaqoob (Queen Mary University of London)

Dr Sohini Kar (LSE)

Dr Thomas Chambers (Oxford Brookes University)

Dr Helen Pritchard (Goldsmiths, University of London)

Jeevan Sharma, University of Edinburgh

Jasbinder S. Nijjar (Brunel University London)

Dr Ben Whitham (De Montfort University, Leicester)

Dr Manishita Dass (Royal Holloway, University of London)

Dr Tanzil Chowdhury (Queen Mary, University of London) 

Dr Angus McNelly (Queen Mary University of London)

Dr Eleanor Newbigin (SOAS, University of London)

Dr Andy Lockhart (University of Sheffield. UK)

Dr Thomas Cowan (University of Bergen, Norway)

Keval Bharadia (South Asia Solidarity Group)

Dr Deana Heath (University of Liverpool)

Dr Niamh Moore (University of Edinburgh)

Nilanjana Sanyal (Quant Edge Ltd.)

Heather McKnight (University of Sussex)

Nayanika Mahtani (Author)

Dr Rajesh Patel (Manchester Metropolitan University) 

Dr. Anjana Raghavan (Sheffield Hallam University)

Dr. Sharri Plonski (Queen Mary University of London)

Dr Leon Sealey-Huggins (University of Warwick)

Dr Chris Moffat (Queen Mary University of London)

Dr. Clive Gabay (Queen Mary University of London)

Dr James Eastwood (Queen Mary University of London)

Dr. Richard Axelby (SOAS University of London)

Dr Sanchari Roy (King’s College London)

Arild Engelsen Ruud (University of Oslo)

Dr Eva Nanopoulos (Queen Mary, University of London)

Sanjoy Bhattacharya, University of York, UK.

Laila Kadiwal, UCL

Dr Louise Tillin, King’s College London

Dr Mark Betz (King’s College London)

Sumit Mazumdar, University of York, York, UK

Swagata Ghosh (Bath Spa University, Bath, UK)

Laura Povoledo, UWE Bristol, UK 

Papiya Mazudmar, University of York, UK

Nash Croker (LSE)

Morgan Fairless (LSE) 

Aditya Ramesh (University of Manchester)

Dr Romola Sanyal (LSE)

Dr Srilata Sircar (University College London)

Dr Marsha Henry (LSE)

Dr Ruth Fletcher (Queen Mary, University of London)

Dr Rowland Curtis (Queen Mary, University of London) 

Sam Rowlands (LSE)

Oyinda Yemi-Omowumi (LSE)

Ashley Layo Masing (LSE)

Gudrun Cecilie E. Helland (University of Oslo)

Sahil Warsi (Independent Anthropologist) 

Bibhas Saha (Durham University)

Sian Hargadon (LSE)

Dr. Kamini Gupta, King’s College London

Sanjay Banerji (University of Nottingham)

Marián Carty - Goldsmiths, University of London

Charlotta Salmi (QMUL)

Dr. Atisha Ghosh (University of Warwick)

Dr John Zavos (HRF, University of Manchester)

Dr. Kaustav Das (University of Leicester)

Dr. Nisha Kapoor (University of Warwick)

Dr. Uditi Sen (University of Nottingham)

Dr. Owen Holland (UCL)

Dr. Kavita Ramakrishnan (University of East Anglia)

Dr. Remi Joseph-Salisbury (University of Manchester)

Angbeen Abbas (LSE)

Leonie Zeuner (LSE)

Dr James Chiriyankandath (University of London)

Clive Azavedo (University of Technology, Sydney) 

Tanvi Surana (LSE) 

Swapna Nixon (LSE)

Umer Ahmed (King’s College London)

Hira Eiraj (LUMS)

Zainab Riyaz (King’s College London)

Victor Sievert (King’s College London)

Lauren Esquilant (King’s College London)

Mahin Nasir (King’s College London)

Freeha Gull Hashmi (GCUL)

Muzammil Kamran (NUML)

Yashasvi Tripathi (University of Hertfordshire alumnus) 

Shahmeer Ali (LUMS) 

Dr Simon Layton (Queen Mary University of London)

Zainab Aazadeh Raja (University of British Columbia)

Shahzeb Khan (London School of Economics)

Rania Mohiuddin (King’s College London) 

Dr Chandana Sanyal (Middlesex University, London)

Dr Raphael Susewind (King’s College London)

Usman Ali (LUMS)

Saania Munawar ( University of Hertfordshire)

Mohammad Zuhayr Talkin Zamindar (University of Hertfordshire)

Dr Hannah Schling (Queen Mary University of London)

Sandhya Fuchs (LSE)

Colin Vanelli (London School of Economics)

Dr Sushrut Jadhav (University College London)

Uzair Ibrahim (The Institute of Ismaili Studies)