IIMB faculty, students express solidarity with Umar Khalid, condemn arrest of activists

BENGALURU: About 40 students, staff and faculty of IIM Bangalore came out with a statement on Tuesday condemning the "hounding and arrest" of academics and activists who participated in the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), and expressing solidarity with them.

"Peaceful non-violent protest is not only a fundamental right, but also a fundamental duty in a democracy. We stand in solidarity with Umar Khalid and others who have been targets of a deceitful "investigation" that has let the true perpetrators of the horrific North East Delhi violence roam free," they said in their statement.

The Delhi police on Sunday arrested Khalid, a former Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader in connection with his alleged role in the riots in northeast Delhi in February. A court has sent Khalid to 10-day police custody. "We also call upon fellow academics around the country to speak up, and resist this unconstitutional use of force to crush legitimate dissent that is an important fount of our democracy. A climate of fear and repression is an existential threat to any university's core academic mission," the letter said. They said they have signed the statement in their personal capacities.


In December last year, the IIMB staffers and students had released a similar letter urging the Centre not "trample the democratic rights of citizens "to hold peaceful protests against CAA. In another letter in September last year, about 100 IIMB faculty, staff and students had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to direct the Jharkhand government to order a fresh probe into the death of Tabrez Ansari, a 24-year-old victim of an alleged mob attack in June.