A group of 100 writers and artists from India has issued a statement of solidarity with protesting students across the country, who are demanding that the government address the persistent, deep-rooted irregularities in the education system, following the far-reaching and grave consequences of the state’s repeated failures to do so. The following is the full text of the open letter.§We, the undersigned writers, and artists of India, express our unwavering solidarity with the students across the country who are demanding transparency, accountability, and comprehensive reforms in the conduct of public examinations. The repeated instances of question paper leaks and other irregularities have gravely questioned the integrity of public institutions. We are deeply disturbed by the reports of use of force against students engaged in peaceful democratic protest in different parts of the country, including at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. In a constitutional democracy, the legitimate concerns of young citizens must be met with dialogue and justice, not by violence and intimidation. We call upon the Government of India and the concerned State Governments to take swift and stringent action against all those responsible for examination paper leaks and related malpractice. We also demand an honest dialogue with the students and an impartial inquiry into the incidents of violence against students and unwarranted use of force. We stand with the students of India in their peaceful struggle for justice, accountability and a trustworthy examination system. We urge fellow writers, artists and thinkers from all parts of the country to come out in support of the demands of students to decide the future of our democracy. We the undermentioned writers and artists give our consent to above statement: Satchidanandan Ashok Vajpeyi Damodar Mauzo Mahesh Elkunchwar Banu MushtaqMallika SarabhaiBhalachandra NemadeKanji PatelVasant Abaji Dahake A.J. ThomasArun KamalChandrakant PatilGitha Hariharan Peggy MohanRajesh JoshiGitanjali ShreePrafull Shiledar Kamalakar BhattAnwar AliAnamikaRanganath Pathare Prabodh ParikhKamal VoraAtul DodiyaUdayan VajpeyiSwati JoshiNeela AdarkarSanjukta WaghRimli BhattacharyaAmrut GangarAjay Rawl Shirin Gandhi Raynuka Nidagundi Anju DodiyaVarjesh Solanki Deepak RawalChirantana BhattHarish MinashruKumar AmbujJivan SinghPremchand GandhiHemendra ChandaliyaPrabal Kumar BasuAmar Mitra Bikash RoyDebbarmaVandana Tete Vahru SonvanePradnya Daya PawarJoram YalamNilim Kumar Snehlata Negi Santanu SarmaAtul Pethe Rajan GavsPravin BandekarSatpal BhikhiHeera MeenaPravin PandyaBakul TailorB. RajeevanSavithri RajeevanJ. DevikaRamesh Karthik NaikHemant DivateP. RamanP.N. GopikrishnanP.P. RamchandranIshan MarvelKedarnath MishraParijat PandyaRanjana ArgadeAngshuman KarRita KothariPratibha NandakumarSwapnamoy ChakrabortyJoseph S.Prabha MajumdarSucharita Dutta-AsaneMrityunjay Kumar SinghMeena KandasamyParthiv ShahK.R. TonyRafiq AhmedRahamat TarikereRajendra ChenniSudhir ChandraRanjit HoskoteSanjeev KhandekarRuchir JoshiManisha JoshiMonika BiswasMoushumi BhoumikAyesha AgrawalDanish HusainMamata SagarMehul DevkalaGopika JadejaUmesh SolankiDevanooru MahadevaParanjoy Guha-Thakurta