NEW DELHI: Harvard University students have written an open letter in solidarity with the students of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) regarding the protests over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
In the letter, more than 100 students of Harvard University condemned the crackdown on Jamia, and AMU stressing that the “protest and dissent are inherent to democracy”.
“We write in deep condemnation of the violent suppression of student protestors…we emphasise that protest and dissent are inherent to democracy,” the letter read.
“Police forces’ forceful entry into university campuses…[is] deeply reprehensible,” it added.
Here is the full letter:
Around 400 Indian students studying in various American universities have condemned the “brutal police violence.”
The students/alumni groups who have signed the statement hail from: Columbia University, Yale University, New York University, Stanford University, University of Michigan, University of Chicago, Brown University, Georgetown University, University of Pennsylvania, Tufts University, Johns Hopkins University, Cornell University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley Purdue University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Southern California, and University of Illinois.
Jamia Millia Islamia University had turned into a battlefield on Sunday with police entering the campus and using force, following violence and arson during protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Jamia students have claimed that they are not involved in the acts of violence.
The students alleged that the police entered inside the campus of the university and used teargas and violence on the students sitting in the library on Sunday.