In the wake of the ongoing protest by writers and artists over the government’s response to incidents of violence and intolerance, a group of sociologists have expressed their disquiet at the PM’s ‘late response’ and his failure to assert that the rule of law will be defendedStatement by Sociologists on the Need to Maintain Constitutional and Academic FreedomsWe, as sociologists and concerned citizens, feel extremely concerned about the lynching at Dadri, and the murders of scholars and thinkers like MM Kalburgi, Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and others, and wish to register our strong protest.We are not just shocked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s late response, but also by the implications of the victim-blaming statement he made. To say that ‘Hindus and Muslims should not fight each other but should fight poverty instead’ puts the onus for peace and fighting poverty entirely on civil society and communities and absolves the state of any responsibility for both. As Prime Minister, he should have asserted that the state would defend the rule of law.In a country with some 4693 communities and over 415 living languages, each community is bound to have its own customs, including dietary choices. Individuals may also follow practices different from the ones followed by the majority of their community. Any attempt to impose a uniform belief or practice, on either individuals or communities, is antithetical to the freedom enshrined in the Constitution. It is the state’s responsibility to ensure this freedom.Further, as scholars, we are extremely worried about the implications of these recent developments for our ability to study and write about different life ways, and to critically analyse society, including social phenomena like religion.SIGNED (in alphabetical order)Janaki Abraham, University of DelhiAnuja Agrawal, University of DelhiYasmeen Arif, University of DelhiMahuya Bandyopadhyay, University of DelhiXonzoi Barbora, Tata Institute of Social Sciences- GuwahatiAmita Baviskar, Institute of Economic GrowthPratiksha Baxi, Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityJyothsna Belliappa, Azim Premji UniversityAnjali Bhatia, University of DelhiReema Bhatia, University of DelhiVasundhara Bhojvaid, University of DelhiAnuj Bhuwania, South Asian UniversityRita Brara, University of DelhiAnand Chakravarti, rtd. University of DelhiRoma Chatterji, University of DelhiRuchi Chaturvedi, University of Cape TownRadhika Chopra, University of DelhiDia Da Costa, University of AlbertaAjay Dandekar, Shiv Nadar UniversityAnkur Datta, South Asian UniversitySatish Deshpande, University of DelhiVincent Ekka, Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityTanweer Fazal, Jamia Millia IslamiaShalini Grover, Institute of Economic GrowthRadhika Gupta, Max Planck Institute, GöttingenChandan Gowda, Azim Premji UniversityRajesh Kamble, University of MumbaiSasheej Hegde, University of HyderabadRudolf C Heredia, Independent Researcher, MumbaiFarhana Ibrahim, Indian Institute of Technology – DelhiSurinder S. Jodhka, Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityKalpana Kannabiran, Centre for Social DevelopmentRavinder Kaur, Indian Institute of Technology-DelhiSakshi Khurana, V. V. Giri National Labour InstituteRavi Kumar, South Asian UniversitySatendra Kumar, LucknowC. Lakshmanan, Madras Institute of Development StudiesAmman Madan, Azim Premji UniversityT. N. Madan, Institute of Economic GrowthNissim Mannathukkaren, Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityNayanika Mathur, University of CambridgeDeepak Mehta, Shiv Nadar UniversityGayatri Menon, Azim Premji UniversityArima Misra, Azim Premji UniversityRadhika Mongia, York UniversityGeetha Nambissan, Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityBalmurli Natarajan, William Paterson UniversityTiplut Nongbri, Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityRajni Palriwala, University of DelhiAmrita Pande, University of Cape TownSujata Patel, University of HyderabadTulsi Patel, University of DelhiShilpa Phadke, Tata Institute of Social Sciences- MumbaiPurendra Prasad, University of HyderabadMeena Radhakrishna, formerly of Delhi UniversityRatheeshRaka Ray, University of California at BerkeleyD. R. Sahu, University of LucknowSavyasaachi, Jamia Millia IslamiaManisha Sethi, Jamia Millia IslamiaHira Singh, York UniversityAlito Siquira, University of GoaG. Srinivas, Jawaharlal Nehru UniversitySanjay Srivastava, Institute of Economic GrowthV. Sujatha, Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityNandini Sundar, University of DelhiRavi Sundaram, Centre for the Study of Developing SocietiesRenny Thomas, University of DelhiPatricia Uberoi, Centre for the Study of Developing SocietiesCarol Upadhya, National Institute of Advanced StudyDivya Vaid, Jawaharlal Nehru UniversitySudha Vasan, University of DelhiA. R. Vasavi, BangaloreSusan Visvanathan, Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityAnurekha Chari Wagh, University of PuneVirginius Xaxa, Tata Institute of Social Sciences– Guwahati