Tuesday (December 17): The ripple effect of protests on campuses across the country reached top educational institutions in the world including Oxford, Harvard and Yale and MIT, where students and scholars staged demonstrations against the police crackdown on students of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
Over 400 students from different US universities have issued a joint statement expressing solidarity with Jamia and AMU students lathi-charged by the Delhi Police during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act that turned violent.
In the statement, scholars from universities, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Stanford and Tufts said they condemn the “brutal police violence unleashed against students at Jamia and AMU as a gross violation of human rights under the Constitution of India and international human rights law”.
The students and scholars at Oxford University staged a protest march to India House in London against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the police action on students.
The protests at various universities abroad are mostly being led by Indians studying there.
“We condemn the violence unleashed on students in Jamia and AMU among other Indian institutions. The use of police force against students exercising their fundamental right to protests in the university spaces and elsewhere is direct attack on foundations of a democratic society,” according to a joint statement issued by students, scholars and alumni of University of Oxford.
Similarly, students and scholars at Harvard University have also written an open letter to Indian government saying, “we are deeply shocked and concerned about reports of police brutality aimed at breaking spirit of protesters especially women. It is important to note that these events are in violation of rights to due process, public association and dissent”.
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