New Delhi: Eighty eight of India’s top academics have released a statement in solidarity with Tejaswini Desai, professor at Kolhapur Institute of Technology’s College of Engineering, who has been on the receiving end harassment for countering communal statements in her classroom.In a campus discussion after the violence on June 7 at Kolhapur, Desai countered claims made by some students on how Muslims do not get punished for their crimes. Students also said that “Muslims are rapists.”She told Newslaundry how “some students said Hindus never ever engaged in riots and Babri Masjid was demolished on the orders of the Supreme Court.”Desai said she believed that “things should not get ugly” and told her students that rape is not limited to any particular religion or community and rapists don’t have any religion or caste. “It comes under the category of heinous crime,” she had said.What followed was social media harassment, and police dropping by to inquire into the incident – videos of which had gone viral with misleading clips edited out of context. Desai was also “sent on forced leave as a disciplinary action” for 14 days by her institute.In their statement, the India Academic Freedom Network, a network of university teachers and students, noted that Desai is being “harassed and hounded”.“Her assertion that rapists can be from any community is borne out by the most superficial glance at newspaper reports. What she said was recorded, then doctored and circulated on social media, leading to her being forced by college authorities to go on leave and there is even a police investigation against her,” the statement says.The academics have called on college authorities to revoke her forced leave, to ensure her safety and “enable her to return honourably to her duties.”“As attacks on teachers grow by the day all over the country, both by state institutions and by student activists of right wing organisations, we demand that the state, and all university/college authorities take steps to control such intimidation and ensure academic freedom including the right of free discussion within the classroom,” the statement says.The list of signatories are as follows.No.NameAffiliation1Naveen GaurDyal Singh College (University of Delhi)2Jayati Ghosh University of Massachusetts Amherst 3Ira RajaUniversity of Delhi 4Karuna DW Azim Premji University 5Gautam MenonAshoka University6Sanober Umar York University, Canada 7Shreekant GuptaUniversity of Delhi8Ananya VajpeyiCSDS9Carol UpadhyaNational Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru10Nivedita MenonJNU, Delhi11Krishna Menon Ambedkar University Delhi 12Sachin N DSC, University of Delhi 13Deepak MalghanIIM Bangalore14Nandini SundarUniversity of Delhi15Ayesha KidwaiJawaharlal Nehru University 16Anita Rampal Delhi University (former)17Ravi SundaramCSDS, Delhi18Ranjani MazumdarJawaharlal Nehru University19Satish DeshpandeRetired Professor, Delhi University20Naina Dayal St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi 21Mary E JohnCWDS, New Delhi (retd)22Manjari MahajanThe New School23Nandita NarainSt. Stephen’s College, Delhi University 24T M Thomas Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi 25P. B. Prince Gajendra Babu State Platform for Common School System – Tamil Nadu 26Thamizh NazarJNU27Suvrat RajuInternational Centre for Theoretical Sciences28Kishor Jose Central university of Gujarat 29Santosh Sharma Independent Consultant30Poonam BatraDelhi University31Bhim Sen SaraswatIGNOU32Vibha MauryaUniversity of Delhi33Rahul SarkarSocial Activist34Suchintan DasUniversity of Oxford35Ratna RamanSri Venkateswara College36Ghanshyam ShahFormerly with JNU37Mridula MukherjeeJNU38Sangeeta Luthra SharmaSt Stephen’s College39Manjari KatjuUniversity of Hyderabad 40Sushmita PatiNational Law School of India University41Geeta Seshu Free Speech Collective 42Rohan DsouzaKyoto university43Avinash KumarJNU44Dr Samreen Hussain Dr RMLNLU 45Gayatri MenonAzim Premji University46Snehal ShahIndependent 47Ambar AhmadKamala Nehru College48Rahul GovindUniversity of Delhi49Sanghamitra MisraUniversity of Delhi50Aparna Chaudhuri Ashoka University 51Brinelle D’Souza Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai 52Lalita Ramdas Independent 53Aruna GnanadasonTheologian54Rohit Azad JNU55Aditya Nigam Independent academic56Arudra BurraIndian Institute of Technology-Delhi57Atul SoodJNU, New Delhi58Sarah Hilaly Rajiv Gandhi University Rono Hills Doimukh 59Peehu Pardeshi Jan Swasthya Abhiyan 60Uma ChakravartiRetd. Miranda House, Delhi University 61Prem Kumar Vijayan Hindu College, Delhi University 62Priyanshu Gupta IIM Lucknow 63Karen Gabriel St Stephen’s College64Neeladri BhattacharyaJawaharlal Nehru University (Rtd)65Dr. Sabina Kazmi Delhi University 66Dr. Sheeva Dubey FLAME University 67Alia ZamanUniversity of Delhi 68Bharati Jagannathan Miranda House, Delhi University 69Su Lee70V TankhaDelhi University 71Sharadchchandra LeleATREE, Bengaluru72Y.S. AloneJNU73Pramod RanjanSocial Activist, Journalist74Leena RaoMumbai75VrijendraMumbai76Zoya HassanJNU (Professor Emerita)77Rama BaruJNU78Dunu RoySocial Activist79Siddiq WahidShiv Nadar University80Niraja Gopal JayalKing’s College London, LSE81Rajshree ChandraUniversity of Delhi82Manoranjan MohantyCouncil for Social Development, New Delhi83Rajendran NarayananAzim Premji University84Mukul MangalikRamjas College, DU (retd.)85Rushdia MehreenSocial Activist86Irfanullah FarooqiSouth Asian University87Sukanta ChaudhuriProfessor Emeritus, Jadavpur University88ApoorvanandUniversity of Delhi