Protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) transcended Indian campuses to reach top educational institutions abroad like Oxford, Harvard, Michigan, Columbia, Yale, Chicago, Boston, Stanford, Cincinnati and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where students and scholars staged demonstrations against the police crackdown on students of Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). Similar protests have been planned in Berlin and Zurich.
Back home, the of Human Resource Development Ministry said, the situation in 42 central universities in the country, except JMI and AMU, is peaceful and examinations are being held as scheduled.
According to HRD Ministry officials, the ministry received a report from JMI about the incident that took place on December 15 where they mentioned about the resolution taken by the Executive Committee of the university seeking a high-level inquiry. However, no formal request in this regard came so far. Over 400 students from different US universities have issued a joint statement expressing solidarity with Jamia and AMU students in their standoff against the CAA.
While terming the Act as “unconstitutional†and “discriminatory†and while also condemning the use of police violence against students on December 15, 2019, the Universities have decided to hold a student-led protest at Harvard University on December 17, 2019. The students and scholars at Oxford University staged a protest march to India House in London against the CAA and the police action on students.
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 lawâ€.
The protests at various universities abroad are mostly being led by Indians studying there. The statement signed by students and alumni of around 20 US universities perceive the incident as a gross violation of human rights, both under Indian Constitution as well as the International Human Rights Law. The Universities have condemned such state-sponsored actions and have demanded complete withdrawal of police forces from the university premises. They also seek an immediate, independent, and robust investigation into the abuse of power by the Delhi Police, Uttar Pradesh Police, and the Central Reserve Police Force.
“We condemn the violence unleashed on students in Jamia and AMU among other Indian institutions. The use of force exercising their fundamental right to protests 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. “We also lend our voices in support of the fight against this immoral and unconstitutional law and call for its immediate withdrawal,†it added.
