'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...
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 | Jawaharlal Nehru University |
| 29. | Farheen Ahmad | Faculty of Legal Studies, South Asian University |
| 30. | Fathima Shameem | School of Excellence in Law, The T.N. Dr. Ambedkar Law University Chennai. |
| 31. | Gazala Sharif | University School of Law and Legal Studies |
| 32. | Habib Ur Rehman | Dr Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University |
| 33. | Haris Jamil | Faculty of Law, University of Delhi |
| 34. | Himangshu Ranjan Nath | National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam |
| 35. | Ikramuddin | Faculty of Legal Studies, South Asian University |
| 36. | Inzamam | Dr.Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University |
| 37. | Joyanto Chakraborty | University of Petroleum and Energy Studies |
| 38. | Julia | La Trobe University |
| 39. | Kailash Jeenger | Faculty of Law, University of Delhi |
| 40. | Kathryn Greenman | University of Technology Sydney |
| 41. | Khadija Ghani | University of Cambridge |
| 42. | Khaled Labidi | University of Cambridge |
| 43. | Kulsoom Fatima | Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University |
| 44. | Lakashya | Jawaharlal Nehru University |
| 45. | Mahesh Menon | West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences |
| 46. | Mahima | National Law University, Jodhpur |
| 47. | Maxime Cuypers | University of Cambridge |
| 48. | Md. Abu Saleh | Daffodil International University, Dhaka |
| 49. | Md. Tabish Eqbal | South Asian University |
| 50. | Mimansha Jaishal | Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University |
| 51. | Mini Saxena | National Law University Delhi |
| 52. | Mohammad Arshad | University of Allahabad |
| 53. | Mohammad Umar | Jawaharlal Nehru University |
| 54. | Naina Singh | National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan |
| 55. | Namrata | National Law University and Judicial Academy Assam |
| 56. | Narender Nagarwal | Faculty of Law ,University of Delhi |
| 57. | Navjeet | VIPS, GGSIP University |
| 58. | Neetika Vishwanath | National Law University, Delhi |
| 59. | Nidhi Singh | South Asian University |
| 60. | Nikita Kumari | Jawaharlal Nehru University |
| 61. | Nirun RN | Central University of Kerala |
| 62. | Nituja Singh | Jamia Millia Islamia |
| 63. | Noorjahan | Jamia Millia Islamia |
| 64. | Ntina Tzouvala | University of Melbourne |
| 65. | Nupur Chowdhury | Jawaharlal Nehru University |
| 66. | Oishik Sircar | Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University |
| 67. | Parthiban B | Faculty of Legal Studies, South Asian University |
| 68. | Parul | Mody University |
| 69. | Parveen | Faculty of Law, University of Delhi |
| 70. | Poornima Singh | Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University |
| 71. | Prabha Kotiswaran | King's College London |
| 72. | Prabhakar Singh | Associate Professor |
| 73. | Prabhash Ranjan | Faculty of Legal Studies, South Asian University |
| 74. | Prakhar Bhardwaj | Centre for Trade and Investment Law |
| 75. | Pranav Menon | Jawaharlal Nehru University |
| 76. | Pratiksha Baxi | Jawaharlal Nehru University |
| 77. | Preeti Pratishruti Dash | Project 39-A, National Law University Delhi |
| 78. | Priya Anuragini | Dr Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University |
| 79. | Priyanshu | Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta |
| 80. | Pushkar Anand | Faculty of Law, University of Delhi |
| 81. | Ravi Prakash Rahul | Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University |
| 82. | Ravneet Sandhu | Vivekananda |
| 83. | Reuben O'Connell Booth | University of Cambridge |
| 84. | Rishav Sharma | New Law College, BVDU |
| 85. | Ritesh | Faculty of Law, University of Delhi |
| 86. | Ritu Kaushik | Jamia Millia Islamia |
| 87. | Rohini Sen | O.P. Jindal Global University, Jindal Global Law School |
| 88. | Rohit De | Yale Law School, Yale University |
| 89. | S. Pandiaraj | Law, Hindustan Institute of Technology |
| 90. | Sadia Rahman | National Chung Hsing University |
| 91. | Saheb Chowdhury | National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam |
| 92. | Sai Ramani Garimella | South Asian University, New Delhi |
| 93. | Saiji JS | Central University of Kerala |
| 94. | Saika Sabir | Melbourne Law School and OP Jindal Global University |
| 95. | Sam Adelman | University of Warwick |
| 96. | Samiuddin | Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University |
| 97. | Sanjay Raipuria | Government Law College, Alwar |
| 98. | Sarfraz Alam | Jamia Millia lslamia |
| 99. | Shaun McVeigh | University of Melbourne |
| 100. | Shivam | Faculty of Law, University of Delhi |
| 101. | Shree Agnihotri | London School of Economics |
| 102. | Shreya Rastogi | National Law University, Delhi |
| 103. | Shreya Shree | National Law University Delhi |
| 104. | Shruti Das | ICFAI University |
| 105. | Shubham Sharma | University of Cambridge |
| 106. | Siddharth Narrain | PhD Candidate, UNSW, Sydney |
| 107. | Sophy KJ | Centre for Women's Development Studies |
| 108. | Soumya Rajsingh | South Asian University |
| 109. | Srinivas Burra | Faculty of Legal Studies, South Asian University |
| 110. | Stellina Jolly | Faculty of Legal Studies, South Asian University |
| 111. | Stuti Wahal | Faculty of Law, University of Delhi |
| 112. | Sujith K | Faculty of Law, University of Delhi |
| 113. | Sujith Xavier | University of Windsor |
| 114. | Sumedha Choudhury | Independent Legal Researcher |
| 115. | Sundhya Pahuja | University of Melbourne |
| 116. | Swethaa S. Ballakrishnen | University of California Irvine |
| 117. | Syed Ali Akhtar | South Asian University |
| 118. | Syed Mujtaba Athar | Jamia Millia Islamia |
| 119. | Tanaya Thakur | Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur |
| 120. | Tarek | South Asian University |
| 121. | Tarun Khaitan | University of Melbourne |
| 122. | Tauseef Ahmad | Jamia Millia Islamia |
| 123. | Tony Anghie | University of Utah |
| 124. | Upasana Dasgupta | McGill University |
| 125. | Usha Natarajan | American University in Cairo |
| 126. | Varsha Singh | Jawaharlal Nehru University |
| 127. | Vasuki Nesiah | New York University |
| 128. | Vishal | Human Rights Law Network |
| 129. | Vivek Mukherjee | NALSAR University of Law |
| 130. | Yaman Kasturi | Jamia Millia Islamia |