New Delhi: Over 150 students and members of the academia have signed a statement expressing concern over the ongoing communication blackout in the Kashmir Valley and its subsequent impact on academic institutions in the state.
The statement, which was originally published in The Hindu, says that while all the residents of Kashmir deserved to be heard, the lack of communication from academic institutions in Kashmir is especially concerning. It added that the University of Kashmir is home to several scholars and scientists from reputable institutions abroad who had returned to train the next generation of scientists. These researchers and their students, the statement said, remain cut off from the rest of the world due to the government’s measures.
Highlighting the crucial role that the internet plays in conducting and communicating research, the statement says that not only are the scientists in question unreachable but “even the University of Kashmir’s domain (uok.edu.in) has disappeared from Google’s search results for the university”.
Also read: ‘Appalled by Restrictions’: Academics, Scientists Express Concern Over Kashmir
The authors point out that Kashmiri students, who were due to commence higher studies in other institutions, had been adversely affected by the clampdown and as a consequence had been unable to confirm their enrolment or communicate at all with the institutions.
They also maintained that irrespective of the government’s security concerns, universities and educational institutions should be allowed to keep their communication channels open. Instead, the statement held that academic institutions had “been dealt a devastating blow”.
Finally, the text stressed the “preservation of academic freedom” and held that while the freedom to work in an academic setting would appear to be “a relatively minor freedom in a larger context”, it remained “a vital one”. Students and faculty members stated that the government’s commitment and support towards science and technology in the country would remain “merely symbolic without academic freedom and open communication on campuses”.
Also read: Ground Report: Why Most Kashmiri Children Are Keeping Off School
The statement called upon the government to lift the blockade in academic institutions in Kashmir right away and asked that efforts should be made to “win hearts and minds” instead of “alienating the best minds of the state who have chosen to live and work in India”.
The full statement is published below. Apart from circulating it, the statement’s authors have also reached out to various governmental and scientific bodies, including the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the University Grants Commission, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and the office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.
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On Jammu and Kashmir’s Academic Blackout
It has been six weeks and counting since the Indian government declared significant changes in the status of Jammu and Kashmir, namely the abrogation of article 370, the removal of statehood, and the bifurcation of the state into two union territories: Jammu and Kashmir, with a legislative assembly; and Ladakh, without an assembly. Simultaneously the government created a communications blackout that included mobile phones, landlines and all forms of internet. While landlines have been restored in phases in many parts of the erstwhile state, mobile telephony and internet access remains blocked in most of the Kashmir valley.
While all residents of Kashmir deserve to be heard, we wish to express our concern about the situation at academic institutions. The University of Kashmir is home to many fine scholars, including young scientists who have returned to India from reputable institutions abroad to set up their own laboratories in Kashmir and train the next generation of scientists, supported by funding from Indian government bodies like DST and DBT and prestigious fellowships like the Early Career Fellowships from India Alliance. Such researchers, and their students, remain cut off from the internet and the world. In today’s world, the internet is an absolutely vital tool for conducting and communicating research. Not only are the scientists unreachable, even the University of Kashmir’s domain (uok.edu.in) has disappeared from Google’s search results for the university. Some other institutions (Central University of Kashmir, National Institute of Technology Srinagar, and others) appear to have functioning websites, but these have not been updated since July.
As reported in The Hindu (September 17), particularly badly affected are Kashmiri students who were due to join other institutions for higher studies, who have been unable to confirm their offers within the deadline or correspond at all with institutions elsewhere in this context. Individuals have been trying to fill the communication gap where they can and request extensions for the joining date where possible.
Regardless of security concerns that the government may have, universities and educational institutions could have been seen as safe places via which researchers and students could remain connected to the world, but, also, the general public could perhaps have been permitted to use those facilities, subject to safeguards, to send messages to their relatives and friends outside the state. These institutions could have been symbols of the freedom offered by India. Instead, teaching and activities there have been dealt a devastating blow.
In a recent discussion of academic freedom, Spannagel calls attention to a precondition of academic freedom called ‘campus integrity’. By this is meant the “absence of a climate of intimidation through securitisation, targeted physical threats or oppressive surveillance on campus’’. She points out that such practices are “widespread in many countries” and that they “can have stark effects on academic activities”.
We stress that the preservation of academic freedom, or indeed of “campus integrity”, is just one of the freedoms that the more fortunate among us take for granted. The freedom to work in an academic setting would appear, to be sure, a relatively minor freedom in a larger context, but it is a vital one. The Government of India has, time and again, emphasised its support for science and technology in the country. This support is merely symbolic without academic freedom and open communication on campuses, which are fundamental for our development as a democratic society. To continue to maintain links with other institutions, to renew interactions with others outside the state who are concerned about the state of Kashmiri educational and research institutions and to provide a means of access to those Kashmiri students in other parts of India who have been cut off from family and friends is one way in which the present situation might move towards normalcy.
We call upon the government to lift the blackout at these institutions right away, and take all steps possible to help members of the Kashmiri academic community to make up for these lost weeks. We should be making efforts to win hearts and minds — not alienating the best minds of the state who have chosen to live and work in India.
Original authors
- B. Ananthanarayan, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
- Gautam Menon, Ashoka University, Sonepat (NCR)
- Jayant Murthy, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore
- Rahul Siddharthan, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai
- Reeteka Sud, NIMHANS, Bangalore
- Mukund Thattai, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore
Other signatories
- Chintan Sheth National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore
- Amitabh Joshi Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bengaluru
- Tafheem Masudi Gothenburg University
- Rukmini Kumar Vantage Research
- Nirmala No affiliation given
- Sujit Narayanan Simon Fraser University (Graduate Student)
- Madhav University of technology, Sydney
- Aurnab Ghose IISER Pune
- Sagnik Ghosh BSMS student, IISER Pune
- Sandip George University of Groningen
- Aeem Kshirsagar PhD candidate, Grenoble-INP, France
- Abilash Kumar Muthuraman Student, no affiliation given
- Joseph Melville Pinto Visiting Faculty, Dept of Communication & Journalism, Savitribai Phule Pune University.
- Vineeta Bal Adjunct faculty, National Institute of Immunology
- Sharon S Philip University of Virginia, United States
- Sancharini Mitra No affiliation given
- dhriti nagar IISER Pune
- Sampada Mutalik No affiliation given
- Bharadwaj Mutalik No affiliation given
- T.A. Abinandanan Indian Institute of Science
- Devashish Kulkarni No affiliation given
- Mayurika Lahiri IISER, Pune
- Anwesh Bhattacharya IISER Pune
- Pragya Srivastava University of Pennsylvania
- Arghya Mukherjee Cisco Systems, Inc.
- Srikanth Sastry JNCASR, Bengaluru
- Satyajit Rath (retired) National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi
- Soumitro Banerjee IISER Kolkata
- LS Shashidhara Ashoka University and IISER PUNE
- Jaykumar Vaidya Graduate student at UVa
- Rahul Roy Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi
- Partho Sarothi Ray Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata
- Nagaraj Balasubramanian IISER, Pune
- Koel Das IISER Kolkata
- Aniket Sule Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Mumbai
- Mayank Vahia No affiliation given
- D. Mathur Formerly Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
- Kavita No affiliation given
- K. Anandavardhanan IIT Bombay
- Madan Rao National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore
- Shivprasad Patil Indian Institute of Science Education and Research
- Anupam A.H. IMSc,Chennai
- Abhigyan Ray Undergraduate Student, Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology
- Abhiram Kaushik The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai
- Ajit C. Balram IMSc
- R. Ramanujam The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai
- Thiagarajan Jayaraman TISS
- Tejal Kanitkar National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru
- Sibasish Ghosh The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai
- Sreelaja Nair TIFR
- Aniruddha Deshpande IISER Pune Master’s Student
- Manojendu Choudhury IUCAA
- Suhita Nadkarni No affiliation given
- Zakhiya P C Student, no affiliation given
- Jacob Ashrith IISER Pune
- Saanchi Thawani Student, no affiliation given
- Gayathri Kondakath Undergraduate student from IISER Pune
- Chaman Lal, Retd. JNU, New Delhi
- Thejas Krishnan No affiliation given
- Himanshu Badhani IMSc Chennai
- Satyaki Mazumder No affiliation given
- Rahul Nigam BITS Hyderabad
- Yeshi Khampa No affiliation given
- Dinesh PR BS-MS student, IISER Pune, no affiliation given
- Safvana Yasmine, Indian Institute of Mass Communication New Delhi
- Manav, Institute of Mathematical Sciences
- Anjali Sharma, University of Luxembourg
- Anmol Sahu, IISER Pune
- Umesh Student, IISER Pune.
- Shilpi Singh, Lady Shri Ram College for Women
- Ziyad Thekkayil, Student, no affiliation given
- Suman Dutta, Independent Researcher
- Pavan Dharanipragada, PhD student
- Parvaiz Sheikh, IIT Kanpur
- Vidur Niranjan, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru
- Sorab, No affiliation given
- Favaz Kozhikkoden IISER Pune
- Lakshmi Sriram, BS-MS student, IISER Pune
- Pavitra, Research student, no affiliation given
- Adish Assain, No affiliation given
- Medha S. Rajadhyaksha, No affiliation given
- Savita Ladage, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education
- Nazia, IISER Pune
- Chaitra, UIC
- Ashaq Hussain Najar, National Centre for Biological Sciences
- Anil, No affiliation given
- Omkar Manjarekar, MS, no affiliation given
- Shankar, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai
- Farha Yasmin, Student, no affiliation given
- Bhaktee Dongaonkar, National Centre for Biological Sciences
- Preeti Kute, InStem
- Rajani Pillai, Research scholar, no affiliation given
- Prasad S., No affiliation given
- Nida Farheen, IISER Alumni, Brandeis University
- Shreeya Pal, School teacher, no affiliation given
- Margarita Safonova, Indian Institute of Astrophysics
- Dimple Adiwal, No affiliation given
- Parameswaran Sankaran, Chennai Mathematical Institute, Kelambakkam
- Ronit Debnath, No affiliation given
- Milind Watve, Freelance researcher
- Ulfat Iqbal Baig, IISER Pune
- Shilpi Bhunia, final year MS student, no affiliation given
- Bharath Kumar S, no affiliation given
- Satish KG, No affiliation given
- Dipti, No affiliation given
- Mukul, No affiliation given
- Amruta Nayak, The University of Chicago
- Swagata Sarkar, CEBS, Mumbai
- Anand Nimhans
- Nandini Rajamani, IISER Tirupati
- Aritra, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences,Chennai
- Jyothish S, BS-MS student, no affiliation given
- Rajdip Sarkar, IISER Pune
- TNC Vidya, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research
- Debarun Ghosh, Maths PhD central European university
- Shiva Chidambaram, No affiliation given
- Nandkishore Prakash, University of California, San Diego
- Swetha Godavarthi, UCSD
- Amol Patwardhan, UC Berkeley
- Vignesh Srinivasan, UCSD
- Pooja Sancheti, IISER Pune
- Sarfaraz Nawaz, Post Doctoral Fellow, Instem, NCBS
- Prabahan Chakraborty, No affiliation given
- Shreya Das Sharma, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Bangalore
- Vidya Ramesh, NCBS/InStem
- Dr Utsa Ray Jadavpur University
- Deepika Choubey Regional Centre for biotechnology
- Mariya Rashid, No affiliation given
- Nishikant Subhedar, Retired from RTM Nagpur University
- V.Subashri, IMSc
- Nivetha Murugesan, PhD student, IISER Tirupati
- Mukilan J M, Student, no affiliation given
- Shabnum, No affiliation given
- Banhi Chakraborty, Ex-faculty, IIT Kharagpur
- Batul Pipewala, No affiliation given
- Adarsh Vasista, Postdoctoral research fellow, no affiliation given
- Soumyajit Pramanick, Calcutta University
- Saurav Holme Choudhury, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai
- Rachel Topno, IGNOU
- Sagar Khare, Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA
- Vidita Vaidya, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
- Prasanna Rajashekarappa, Advocate
- Dr Ashutosh Kumar AIIMS, Patna
- Pranav Minasandra, Indian Institute of Science
- Manoj Kumar, Amity University
- Nikhil Gupta, IISER Pune
- Sharbatanu Chatterjee, University College London
- Vrushal, No affiliation given
- Meghana, Sjc
- Kamal Lodaya, (Retired) The Institute of Math. Sciences
- Dr Kajal Kanchan, AIMMSCR, Amity University, Noida
- Anweshi Dewan, IISER Pune
- Sibaram Sadangi, Prospective student for ‘Medical Immunosciences and Infection’ at University of Bonn, starting October 2019
- Avinash Thirumalai, Unaffiliated
- Pradyumna Singh, Intel Labs
- Vaishnavi Ananthanarayanan, Indian Institute of Science
- Samriddhi Sankar Ra,y icts-tifr
- Anwesha Maharana, Student, no affiliation given