New Delhi: Staff and students from three United Kingdom universities – Warwick University, the London School of Economics and Cambridge University – have joined the myriad voices from academic spaces across the world voicing their dissent against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.They have also shown their solidarity with students in Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, whose protests were were violently clamped down on by the police.“The peaceful and non-violent demonstrations by students have been met with extraordinary police violence, particularly in Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, with recent reports from established media sources indicating that police and paramilitary forces entered university campuses and hostels by force and brutally attacked students. As a consequence, hundreds of students have been injured, some very seriously. Such police action contravenes both the Constitution of India as well as internal human rights laws. We call for an immediate end to state-led violence and for proper action to be taken against the perpetrators of it,” 50 students, staff and alumni from Warwick University have said.They have also demanded that the “immoral” Act be revoked.Close to 200 students and staff from the London School of Economics and Political Science have supported their colleagues in Warwick and endorsed their statement.“The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, passed by the Indian Parliament on December 12, 2019, accords the right to religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan in acquiring Indian citizenship. By the same token, it directly excludes Muslims from the process. Combined with the expanding reach of the National Register of Citizens, this amounts to a virtual denial of citizenship based on religion and represents a complete negation of the ideals of equality and secularism that are an essential part of the Constitution of India. We join students and citizens all across India in support of their demand that this immoral law be abrogated at the earliest,” the statement says.Also read: In Assam, the BJP Govt is Looking to Quell Protests in Inventive WaysScholars, students and alumni at Cambridge University organised a protest and released a statement. Protesters read from the Indian constitution, as a reminder of what the country stands for.“Coupled with the recently concluded exercise in compiling a National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, which rendered 1.9 million people stateless, the Citizenship Amendment Act raises extremely serious concerns. Although the Bill has been passed by the Parliament, it is clear that this is in contravention of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees “equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India”. This move adds to the persecution and repression of minorities in India in recent years under the Modi-led BJP government,” the statement endorsed by more than 100 people says.They have also supported the ongoing protests against the Act and against police action.Previously, students and workers had protested in London against the CAA. The protest was organised by students from SOAS.The full text of both the letters has been reproduced below:§Statement from Cambridge against NRC, CAA and in support of student protests in IndiaWe, scholars, students, and alumni of the University of Cambridge, are aggrieved at the recent brutal police crackdown on the all-India student protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019 in India . The CAA seeks to amend the Citizenship Act of 1955, to make ‘illegal’ migrants who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who entered India on or before 31 December 2014, eligible for Indian citizenship. This effectively excludes Muslims from seeking a similar route to Indian citizenship.Coupled with the recently concluded exercise in compiling a National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam , which rendered 1.9 million people stateless, the Citizenship Amendment Act raises extremely serious concerns. Although the Bill has been passed by the Parliament, it is clear that this is in contravention of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution , which guarantees “ equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India”. This move adds to the persecution and repression of minorities in India in recent years under the Modi-led BJP government.We wholeheartedly support the protests against The Citizenship Amendment Act ongoing across various universities in India – Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jadavpur University, Delhi University, among others. It is horrifying to learn about the brutality with which the police have clamped down on these campuses, including the use of tear gas in libraries and student halls. As scholars, students, and alumni of Cambridge, we strongly condemn this reprehensible attack on dissent. We stand in solidarity with students protesting the wearing down of the secular fabric of India.Signed:1. Rohit Dutta Roy, PhD student, Faculty of History2. Trishant Simlai, PhD student, Department of Geography3. Rashmi Singh, PhD student, Department of Sociology4. Srimati Ghosal MPhil. South Asian Studies.5. Shuvatri Dasgupta, PhD student, Faculty of History6. Arushi G K Majha, PhD student, Department of Chemistry7. Sagnik Dutta, PhD student, Department of Politics and International Studies8. Abhijit Banare, MPhil student, Department of Politics and International Studies9. Asiya Islam, Junior Research Fellow, Newnham College10. Sinayat Mahzabeen, PhD student, Department of Pharmacology11. Amoghavarsha Mahadevegowda, Research Associate, Clare College12. Salmoli Choudhuri, PhD student13. Howard Chae, MPhil, Magdalene College14. Jinal Dadiya, Sidney Sussex College15. Shruti Kapila, Faculty of History and Fellow, Corpus ChristI College16. Tanvi Bhatkal, PhD student, Department of Geography17. Sayali Thube, MPhil student, Modern South Asian Studies .18. Nabila Idris, PhD candidate, Centre of Development Studies19. Yogita Bangar, MPhil student, Institute of Criminology20. Arya Thampi, Research Assistant, Department of Physics21. Meghna Nag Chowdhuri, PhD student, Faculty of Education22. Merve Sancak, alumna, Darwin College23. Surabhi Ranganathan, Faculty of Law and King’s College24. Nandini Mitra, alumna, King’s College25. Callie Vandewiele, PhD, Newnham College 201826. Akshyeta Suryanarayan, Department of Archaeology27. Poonam Sharma, MPhil, South Asian Studies28. Kavana Ramaswamy, PhD Candidate (Law), Wolfson College29. Philip Luther-Davies, PhD student, Hughes Hall30. Divya Venkatesh, PhD, Queens’ College31. Hanna Danbolt Ajer, PhD candidate in Linguistics, Trinity Hall32. Mahvish Ahmad, Alumni (PhD Sociology, Robinson College)33. Arsalan Ghani, Cambridge Marxist Society34. Partha Pratim Shil, Junior Research Fellow, Trinity College35. Ian Wang, alumni, Corpus Christi College36. Jun Pang, alumni, St. John’s College37. Aditi Patil, Alumna, Wolfson College, LLM – 201838. Aditya Balasubramanian, PhD, Trinity College, 201939. Rajnandini Mukherjee, MASt in Applied Mathematics, St Edmund’s College40. Ananya Mishra, PhD candidate in English, Corpus Christi41. Arif Naveed, PhD Education, Jesus College 201942. Julia Hayes, PhD Education, Lucy Cavendish College43. Titiksha Mohanty, Alumna, LLM, Girton College44. Anjaneya Das, Alumnus, LLM, Wolfson College45. Jessica A. Fernández de Lara Harada, PhD Candidate, Centre of Latin AmericanStudies46. Uttara Shahani, postdoctoral fellow, Faculty of History47. Sampurna Mukherjee, PhD student, Lucy Cavendish College, Department ofBiological Sciences48. Angana Das, MPhil Student, Faculty of Education49. Kanwar Nain Singh, PhD Applied Mathematics, Homerton College50. Ramana Kumar, PhD, Peterhouse, 201551. Saumya Saxena, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, Faculty of History52. Devi Chakrabarti, PhD Student, Department of Social Anthropology53. Ananth Kumar, PhD, Churchill College54. Nazia Jassim, PhD student, Newnham College55. Aditi Tandale, PhD student, Newnham College56. Andrew Jones, Post-doc Biochemistry Department57. Nidhi Singal, Faculty of Education, Hughes Hall58. Nikita Garg, LLM student, Faculty of Law, Robinson college59. Richard Drayton, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.60. Marc Michael, Peterhouse Alumnus, Beirut.61. Ali Meghji, Lecturer in Sociology, Cambridge62. Sana Aiyar, Jesus College alum, 2003, Associate Professor of History, MassachusettsInstitute of Technology, USA63. Sazana Jayadeva, Alumnus, Department of Social Anthropology64. Rohit Singh Pathania, Department of engineering65. Arathi Sriprakash, Faculty of Education66. Vaibhav Bhardwaj, PhD, Magdalene 201667. Charu Singh, JRF, Darwin College, Cambridge68. Siddharth Soni, PhD English, St Edmunds69. Smriti Khemka, PhD student, Faculty of Education70. Shreyashi Dasgupta, PhD student, Centre of Development Studies, Girton College71. Garima Sahai, PhD student, Department of Sociology72. Zehra Kazmi, MPhil in English, Peterhouse (2017-18)73. Vanya Lochan, MPhil in Modern South Asian Studies, Selwyn College (2017-18)74. Arjun Ashoka, PhD in Physics, Trinity Hall75. Anshul Avijit, PhD, King’s College76. Sakshi, PhD Candidate, Department of Land Economy, Newnham College77. Arjun Vijeta, PhD in Chemistry, St. John’s College78. Anora Sandhu, MPhil Criticism & Culture, Christ’s College79. Guneet Malik, MBA, Judge Business School and Sidney Sussex College80. Nishant Gokhale, St. John’s College, PhD Candidate (Law)81. Natalie Jones, Research Associate, Centre for the Study of Existential Risk82. Brunella Torricelli, PhD Candidate, Centre for Mathematical Sciences83. Ritima Das, alumni postdoctoral research associate, department of Earth sciences.84. Rajesh Kumar Bhagat, postdoctoral research associate at the Department of AppliedMathematics and Theoretical Physics85. Sundeep Vema, PhD student, Chemistry86. Mohammad Raza Haider, MPhil in Assyriology, Fitzwilliam College87. Akhila Yechury, Alumni (PhD, 2011), Lecturer, University of St Andrews88. Subbulakshmi S, PhD student, Medical Sciences.89. Lakshmi Bose, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Education90. Aswathy Girija, PhD Student in Physics, Churchill College91. Dilip M Menon, PhD in History Trinity College92. Partha Pratim Chakraborty, St Edmund’s College93. Sarthak Malhotra, PhD student, Department of Social Anthropology94. Kanupriya Sharma, PhD student, Institute of Criminology, Pembroke College95. Biswanath Ghosh Dastidar, Higher Clinical Fellow, Cambridge University Hospital96. Mahdi Chowdhury, MPhil in World History, Fitzwilliam College97. Dilar Dirik, PhD Sociology, Lucy Cavendish College98. Nadia Abdel-Halim, MPhil in Psychology and Education, Homerton College99. Mrinalini Venkateswaran, PhD candidate, Faculty of History100. Arastu Sharma, PhD Engineering Student, Jesus College, Cambridge101. Kaleemullah khan, PhD Biotechnology, Islamiah College Vaniyambadi102. Dr. Mishka Sinha (PhD, 2012), Research Associate St. John’s College, Oxford103. Varun Warrier, Junior Research Fellow, St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge104. Charlie Readman, PhD Nanotech, Churchill College, Cambridge105. Rebekah Lyndon, MPhil World History, Newnham College106. Chris Moffat, Alumnus (PhD History, 2014, Gonville & Caius), Lecturer at Queen MaryUniversity of London107. Komal Gupta, PhD student, Pembroke College108. Sam Leggett, PhD Student, Newnham CollegeJoe Isaacs, MPhil World History, 2019,St Catharine’s College§We staff and students at the London School of Economics and Political Science, join the staff and students at Warwick University UK, and stand in solidarity with all students and colleagues in India who are engaged in protests against the discriminatory Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. We believe that the right to dissent, protest and demonstrate are fundamental rights integral to all democracies. Articles 19 (1) (a) and 19 (1) (b) of the Indian Constitution explicitly state that the right to protest is a fundamental right. Such a right is safeguarded in international human rights conventions as well.The peaceful and non-violent demonstrations by students have been met with extraordinary police violence, particularly in Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, with recent reports from established media sources indicating that police and paramilitary forces entered university campuses and hostels by force and brutally attacked students. As a consequence, hundreds of students have been injured, some very seriously. Such police action contravenes both the Constitution of India as well as international human rights laws. We call for an immediate end to state-led violence and for proper action to be taken against the perpetrators of it.The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, passed by the Indian Parliament on December 12, 2019, accords the right to religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan in acquiring Indian citizenship. By the same token, it directly excludes Muslims from the process. Combined with the expanding reach of the National Register of Citizens, this amounts to a virtual denial of citizenship based on religion and represents a complete negation of the ideals of equality and secularism that are an essential part of the Constitution of India. We join students and citizens all across India in support of their demand that this immoral law be abrogated at the earliest.Dr. Mukulika Banerjee, Dept of Anthropology LSEDr. Shakuntala Banaji, Dept of Media and Communications, LSEDr. Taylor Sherman, Dept of International History LSEDr. Rajesh Venugopal, Dept of International Development LSEProf. David Lewis, Dept of Social Policy LSEProf. Maitreesh Ghatak, Dept of Economics, LSEProf. Chetan Bhatt, Dept of Sociology LSEProf. Katy Gardner, Dept of Anthropology LSEProf. Naufel Vilcassim, Dept of Management LSEProfessor Sarah Banet-Weiser, LSEDr Suzanne Hall, LSERuhi Khan, LSEDr Patrick Mcgovern, LSEProf Myria GeorgiouProfessor Fran Tonkiss, LSEDr. Bingchun Meng, LSEDr Peter Skrandies, LSEProfessor Alnoor Bhimani, Dept of Accounting LSEProf Jonathan Parry, Dept of Anthropology LSEDr Sohini Kar, Dept of Internatonal Development LSEProf Chris Fuller, Dept of Anthropology LSEDr Nilanjan Sarkar, South Asia Centre LSEDr. Sam Mejias, LSEDr. Kate Meagher, Dept of Internaational Development LSEDr Romola Sanyal, Dept of Geography, LSEDr Omar Al-Ghazzi, Dept of Media and Communications LSEDr. Ram Bhat, LSEMr. Chris Finnigan, South Asia Centre, LSEDr Rebecca Bowers, Dept of Anthropology LSEDr Meghnaa Mehta, Dept of Anthropology LSEDr Alpa Shah, Dept of Anthropology LSEProf. Laura Bear, Dept of Anthropology LSEDr Siva Thambisetty, Dept of Law LSEDr Nicholas Evans Dept of Anthropology, LSEZakaria Shafi, LSE GovernorMeher Pandey, Department of Economic History, Undergraduate StudentSadia Sheeraz, Department of Social Policy, Undergraduate StudentChristina Lauren, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentMorgan Fairless, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentAbid Zaidi, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentLeonie Zeuner, Department of Anthropology, Undergraduate StudentJasper Luithlen, Department of Anthropology, Undergraduate StudentNash Croker, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentChloe White, Department of Law, Undergraduate StudentSushanta Subedi, Department of Social Policy, Undergraduate StudentChinyere Ogbue, Department of Sociology, Undergraduate StudentLaura Zampini, Department of International Relations, Undergraduate StudentDylan Stevens, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentEva Rana, Department of Government, undergraduate studentMaitrai Lapalikar, Department of International Relations, Undergraduate StudentSana Shahzad, Department of Law, Undergraduate StudentAshley Layo Masing, Department of Sociology, Undergraduate StudentLucy Knight, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentDhriti Manupriya, Department of Mathematics, Undergraduate StudentAlmas Talib, Department of Social and Cultural Psychology, Postgraduate studentJad Baghdadi, Department of International Relations, Undergraduate StudentAnna Seifu, Department of Social Policy, Undergraduate StudentHolly Harwood, Department of Government, undergraduate studentInes Söderström, Department of International Relations, Undergraduate studentCarla McDonald Heffernan, Department of International History, Undergraduate StudentGeorge Baker, Department of Law, Undergraduate StudentMaria Pavlovec, Department of Economic History, Undergraduate StudentEleanor Reeves, Department of International History, Undergraduate StudentAaron Lacey, Department of Social Policy, Undergraduate StudentGrace Chapman, Department of International History, Undergraduate StudentJakob Franke, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentEileen Gbagbo, Department of International Relations, Undergraduate StudentLauretta Garrard, Department of Social Policy, Undergraduate StudentIsabella Pojuner, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentColin Vanelli, Department of International History, Undergraduate StudentJack Siggs, Department of Sociology, Undergraduate StudentKaty Miller, Department of Economic History, LSE Undergraduate StudentGiulia Annaliese Paxton, Department of Anthropology, LSE undergraduate studentOyinda Yemi-Omowumi, Department of Sociology, Undergraduate StudentYasmina O’Sullivan, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentChiara Fulvi, Department of Finance, Undergraduate StudentLaura Dowling, Department of International Relations, Undergraduate studentSumer Singh, Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, Undergraduate StudentAran Banerjee, Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, Undergraduate StudentAnkita Aggarwal, Department of Management, Undergraduate studentKishan Maher, Department of International Relations, Undergraduate StudentEmmanuel Molding Nielsen, Department of Anthropology, Undergraduate StudentElla Roper-Marshall, Department of International History, Undergraduate StudentRajaa Saleem Sahgal, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentAadil Khan, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentDaiya Dhillon, Department of Government, Postgraduate StudentLauren Darwent, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentTravis Yung-Hok, Department of Economics, Undergraduate StudentSian Hargadon, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentSam Grainger, Department of International Relations, Undergraduate StudentTobias Leigh-Wood, Department of Economics, Undergraduate StudentMarcela Zamora de la Pena, Department of Law, Undergraduate StudentLudovico Picciotto, Department of International Relations, Undergraduate StudentLola Fayokun, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentEmma Lyons, Department of International History, Undergraduate StudentAditi Tripathi, Department of Law, Undergraduate StudentSam Rowlands, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentJessica Chan, Department of Anthropology, Undergraduate StudentNicola Young, Department of International Relations, Undergraduate StudentIsra Saker, Department of International History, Undergraduate StudentSyeda Tarin Pasha, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentAlex Morris, Department of Mathematics, Undergraduate StudentKainat Shafiq, Department of International History, Undergraduate StudentNazia Ismail, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentMaariyah Kadiri, Department of International History, Undergraduate,Aya Abdelwahed, Department of Law, Undergraduate StudentSyeda Emaan Hassan, Department of Law, Undergraduate StudentNourshin Khan, Department of Social Policy, Undergraduate StudentAbida Alam, Department of International History, Undergraduate StudentRania Putri, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentAyesha Burney, Department of Government, Postgraduate StudentElla Holmes, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentRumana Akther, Department of Social Policy, Undergraduate studentMaryam Ahmad, Department of International History, Undergraduate StudentSahar Asif, Department of International History, Undergraduate studentJamal Mohamed, Department of Economic History, Undergraduate studentNawaz Ahmed, Department of Economic History, Undergraduate studentSamira Ahmed, Department of Anthropology, Undergraduate StudentRaihan Karim, Department of Philosophy, Undergraduate StudentHafsa Qureshi, Department of Sociology, Undergraduate StudentJu Min Jeong, Department of Anthropology, Undergraduate StudentAminah Nihal, Department of International Relations, Undergraduate StudentSabir Abdullahi, Department of Law, Undergraduate StudentMohammed Ashour, Department of Statistics, Undergraduate StudentSamer Nayem Ullah, Department of Management, Undergraduate StudentAliza Mahmood, Department of Geography and Environment, UndergraduateSheherbano Hanif, Department of International History, UndergraduateSyed Humza Ali, Department of Accounting, Undergraduate StudentLateef Bawendi, Department of Economics, Undergraduate StudentEza Arshad, Department of Economic History, Undergraduate StudentToby Antons-Jones, Department of Statistics, Undergraduate StudentMartina Chow, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentRida Tahir, Department of International Relations, Postgraduate, StudentFaiso Kadiye, Department of International Relations, Undergraduate StudentMax Marlow, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentSafaa Hassan, department of anthropology and law, undergraduate, studentMariam Farooq, Department of International Relations, UndergraduateFarhad Ahmed, Department of Accounting, Undergraduate StudentMohammed Altab, Department of Geography & Environment, UndergraduateFaraz Syed, Department of Philosophy, Undergraduate studentFaraz Piracha, Department of Accounting, Undergraduate studentAbdullah khan, Department of Philosophy, Undergraduate studentZain Hussain, Department of Statistics, Undergraduate studentYusuf Furkan, Department of Mathematics, Undergraduate studentJason Reed , Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentNathen Allen, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentRanim Taha, Department of Anthropology, Undergraduate StudentZahra Khan, Department of Law, Postgraduate studentAnisa Uddin, Department of International History, Undergraduate studentHallamund Meena, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentBilal Mohammed Vahidy , Department of Social Policy, Undergraduate StudentLiam Selsby, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentSayma Uddin, Department of Economic History, Undergraduate StudentTanweer Siddique, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentAdnan Mansoor, Department of Accounting, Undergraduate StudentAzher Chowdhury, Department of Mathematics, Undergraduate StudentSaadia Sajid, Department of Law, Undergraduate StudentAnna Kayani, Department of Government,Undergraduate StudentTasnim Jani, Department of Law, Undergraduate StudentZaynab Chowdhury, Department of Anthropology, Undergraduate StudentSafiyya Abdul-Majib, Department of Geography,, Undergraduate StudentMuhammad Rafay Butt, Department of Statistics, Undergraduate Student.Nafsin Uddin, Department of Anthropology, Undergraduate StudentKripa Vinda, Department of Economic History, Undergraduate StudentBareera Bullo, Department of Social Policy, Undergraduate StudentNuha Bazeer, Department of Health Policy, Postgraduate StudentTaibah Al-Fagih, Department of International History, Undergraduate StudentIqra Butt, Department of International Relations, Undergraduate StudentMohsin Najafi, Department of Accounting, Undergraduate StudentMohammed Shihab Raihan, Department of Mathematics, Undergraduate StudentAbdullah Raja, Department of Politics, Undergraduate StudentAmin Rawlinson, Department of International Relations, Undergraduate StudentTasnia Uddin, Department of International History, Undergraduate StudentZeeshan Ashraf, Department of Mathematics, Undergraduate StudentEleanor Frost, Department of Government, Undergraduate StudentMuaaz Mohammed, Department of Philosophy, Undergraduate StudentInes Pham, Department of International History, Undergraduate StudentHolly Davies, Department of International History, Undergraduate StudentBilal Butt, Department of Accounting, Undergraduate StudentZubair Malik, Department of Mathematics, Undergraduate StudentBeyza Karakoy, Department of Law, Postgraduate StudentMohammed Mahdi Uddin, Department of Mathematics, Undergraduate StudentMuaz Chowdhury, Department of Mathematics, Undergraduate StudentAdil Merchant, Department of Health Policy, Postgraduate StudentAhmed Majid, Department of Economic History, Undergraduate StudentFawaz Ahmad, Department of Economics, Undergraduate StudentWalid Hasanzadeh, Department of Geography, Undergraduate StudentTsz Ching Ng, Department of Anthropology, Postgraduate StudentEsmee Khan, Department of Social Policy, Undergraduate
