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 KashmirThe 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 SchoolThe 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.§On Jammu and Kashmir’s Academic BlackoutIt 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, BangaloreGautam 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 signatoriesChintan Sheth National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore Amitabh Joshi Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, BengaluruTafheem Masudi Gothenburg UniversityRukmini Kumar Vantage ResearchNirmala No affiliation givenSujit Narayanan Simon Fraser University (Graduate Student)Madhav University of technology, SydneyAurnab Ghose IISER PuneSagnik Ghosh BSMS student, IISER PuneSandip George University of GroningenAeem Kshirsagar PhD candidate, Grenoble-INP, FranceAbilash Kumar Muthuraman Student, no affiliation givenJoseph Melville Pinto Visiting Faculty, Dept of Communication & Journalism, Savitribai Phule Pune University.Vineeta Bal Adjunct faculty, National Institute of ImmunologySharon S Philip University of Virginia, United StatesSancharini Mitra No affiliation givendhriti nagar IISER PuneSampada Mutalik No affiliation givenBharadwaj Mutalik No affiliation givenT.A. Abinandanan Indian Institute of ScienceDevashish Kulkarni No affiliation givenMayurika Lahiri IISER, PuneAnwesh Bhattacharya IISER PunePragya Srivastava University of PennsylvaniaArghya Mukherjee Cisco Systems, Inc.Srikanth Sastry JNCASR, BengaluruSatyajit Rath (retired) National Institute of Immunology, New DelhiSoumitro Banerjee IISER KolkataLS Shashidhara Ashoka University and IISER PUNEJaykumar Vaidya Graduate student at UVaRahul Roy Indian Statistical Institute, DelhiPartho Sarothi Ray Indian Institute of Science Education and Research KolkataNagaraj Balasubramanian IISER, PuneKoel Das IISER KolkataAniket Sule Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, MumbaiMayank Vahia No affiliation givenD. Mathur Formerly Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Kavita No affiliation givenK. Anandavardhanan IIT Bombay Madan Rao National Centre for Biological Sciences, BangaloreShivprasad Patil Indian Institute of Science Education and ResearchAnupam A.H. IMSc,ChennaiAbhigyan Ray Undergraduate Student, Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical TechnologyAbhiram Kaushik The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, ChennaiAjit C. Balram IMScR. Ramanujam The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, ChennaiThiagarajan Jayaraman TISSTejal Kanitkar National Institute of Advanced Studies, BengaluruSibasish Ghosh The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, ChennaiSreelaja Nair TIFRAniruddha Deshpande IISER Pune Master’s StudentManojendu Choudhury IUCAASuhita Nadkarni No affiliation givenZakhiya P C Student, no affiliation givenJacob Ashrith IISER PuneSaanchi Thawani Student, no affiliation givenGayathri Kondakath Undergraduate student from IISER PuneChaman Lal, Retd. JNU, New DelhiThejas Krishnan No affiliation givenHimanshu Badhani IMSc ChennaiSatyaki Mazumder No affiliation givenRahul Nigam BITS HyderabadYeshi Khampa No affiliation givenDinesh PR BS-MS student, IISER Pune, no affiliation givenSafvana Yasmine, Indian Institute of Mass Communication New DelhiManav, Institute of Mathematical SciencesAnjali Sharma, University of LuxembourgAnmol Sahu, IISER PuneUmesh Student, IISER Pune.Shilpi Singh, Lady Shri Ram College for WomenZiyad Thekkayil, Student, no affiliation givenSuman Dutta, Independent ResearcherPavan Dharanipragada, PhD studentParvaiz Sheikh, IIT KanpurVidur Niranjan, National Centre for Biological Sciences, BengaluruSorab, No affiliation givenFavaz Kozhikkoden IISER PuneLakshmi Sriram, BS-MS student, IISER PunePavitra, Research student, no affiliation givenAdish Assain, No affiliation givenMedha S. Rajadhyaksha, No affiliation givenSavita Ladage, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science EducationNazia, IISER PuneChaitra, UICAshaq Hussain Najar, National Centre for Biological SciencesAnil, No affiliation givenOmkar Manjarekar, MS, no affiliation givenShankar, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai Farha Yasmin, Student, no affiliation givenBhaktee Dongaonkar, National Centre for Biological SciencesPreeti Kute, InStemRajani Pillai, Research scholar, no affiliation givenPrasad S., No affiliation givenNida Farheen, IISER Alumni, Brandeis UniversityShreeya Pal, School teacher, no affiliation givenMargarita Safonova, Indian Institute of AstrophysicsDimple Adiwal, No affiliation givenParameswaran Sankaran, Chennai Mathematical Institute, KelambakkamRonit Debnath, No affiliation givenMilind Watve, Freelance researcherUlfat Iqbal Baig, IISER PuneShilpi Bhunia, final year MS student, no affiliation givenBharath Kumar S, no affiliation givenSatish KG, No affiliation givenDipti, No affiliation givenMukul, No affiliation givenAmruta Nayak, The University of ChicagoSwagata Sarkar, CEBS, MumbaiAnand NimhansNandini Rajamani, IISER TirupatiAritra, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences,ChennaiJyothish S, BS-MS student, no affiliation givenRajdip Sarkar, IISER PuneTNC Vidya, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific ResearchDebarun Ghosh, Maths PhD central European universityShiva Chidambaram, No affiliation givenNandkishore Prakash, University of California, San DiegoSwetha Godavarthi, UCSDAmol Patwardhan, UC BerkeleyVignesh Srinivasan, UCSDPooja Sancheti, IISER PuneSarfaraz Nawaz, Post Doctoral Fellow, Instem, NCBSPrabahan Chakraborty, No affiliation givenShreya Das Sharma, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, BangaloreVidya Ramesh, NCBS/InStemDr Utsa Ray Jadavpur UniversityDeepika Choubey Regional Centre for biotechnologyMariya Rashid, No affiliation givenNishikant Subhedar, Retired from RTM Nagpur UniversityV.Subashri, IMScNivetha Murugesan, PhD student, IISER TirupatiMukilan J M, Student, no affiliation givenShabnum, No affiliation givenBanhi Chakraborty, Ex-faculty, IIT KharagpurBatul Pipewala, No affiliation givenAdarsh Vasista, Postdoctoral research fellow, no affiliation givenSoumyajit Pramanick, Calcutta UniversitySaurav Holme Choudhury, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, ChennaiRachel Topno, IGNOUSagar Khare, Rutgers University, New Jersey, USAVidita Vaidya, Tata Institute of Fundamental ResearchPrasanna Rajashekarappa, AdvocateDr Ashutosh Kumar AIIMS, PatnaPranav Minasandra, Indian Institute of ScienceManoj Kumar, Amity UniversityNikhil Gupta, IISER PuneSharbatanu Chatterjee, University College LondonVrushal, No affiliation givenMeghana, SjcKamal Lodaya, (Retired) The Institute of Math. SciencesDr Kajal Kanchan, AIMMSCR, Amity University, NoidaAnweshi Dewan, IISER PuneSibaram Sadangi, Prospective student for ‘Medical Immunosciences and Infection’ at University of Bonn, starting October 2019Avinash Thirumalai, UnaffiliatedPradyumna Singh, Intel LabsVaishnavi Ananthanarayanan, Indian Institute of ScienceSamriddhi Sankar Ra,y icts-tifrAnwesha Maharana, Student, no affiliation given
