5th January 2020

STATEMENT AGAINST SUPPRESSION OF DEMOCRATIC EXPRESSION OF

DISSENT

We write this to register our protest against repeated and pervasive attempts at
suppression of the right to free and democratic dissent.

In particular, we strongly condemn the violence unleashed by police on unarmed

students, including minors, at Cotton University, Jamia Milia Islamia University, Aligarh
Muslim University and ​other educational institutions​. We also note with concern the
unlawful and arbitrary detentions of ​members of IIMA fraternity and others across the
country.

Further, digital freedoms constitute an important part of the ​fundamental constitutional

guarantees of privacy, liberty, peaceable assembly and free expression. The ​findings
of Access Now - a global non-profit - indicate that India saw 67% (134 instances) of
all internet shutdowns in the world in 2018. In addition to disruption of civil life and
access to emergency services, there are clear economic costs of such blackouts: USD
3.04 bn over 2012-17 according to an ICRIER ​report​.

We also strongly condemn the arbitrary and continued imposition of Section 144,
CrPC in various parts of the country, including ​Ahmedabad​, for extended periods of
time without due explanation, or notice. Such arbitrary curbs on peaceful means of
protest have no place in a democratic society.

We further urge the law enforcement authorities to only use proportionate force to
restore law and order in accordance with established procedure, and not as a tool of
intimidation against certain groups. It is the duty of the state to protect and enhance
our civil liberties not only in letter but also in spirit. We further encourage the state and
central governments to carry out urgent ​police reforms as outlined by the ​Supreme
Court​, ​Bureau of Police Research and Development and the ​International Committee
of the Red Cross​, and ​criminal justice reforms as outlined by the Law Commission of
India, for better realisation of civil liberties in India.

 
 
 

List of Signatories: IIM Ahmedabad

Alumni 29. Kavitha Ranganathan 69. Kanishk Bhawsar

1. Anand Teltumbde 30. Navdeep Mathur 70. Kavya Komal Gupta
2. Anant Chaudhary 31. Poornima Varma 71. Kayalvizhi K
3. Anjani Jain (Distinguished 32. Pritha 72. Ketan Deshmukh
Alumnus, IIM Ahmedabad, 33. Rakesh Basant 73. Ketan Sonawane
and Deputy Dean, Yale 34. Rama Mohana Turaga 74. Krupa Bathia
University School of 35. Reetika Khera 75. Laiba Moosa
Management) 36. Sandip Chakrabarti 76. Manali Waghmare
4. Ankit Yadav 37. Samir K Barua (Former 77. Manisha Yadav
5. Ashish Arya Director) 78. Mayank Dehgal
6. Ashish Palli 38. Sebastian Morris 79. Mitul Surana
7. Ashish Ranjan 80. Mohammad Kashif Khan
8. Beheruz Sethna Students 81. Mum Taggu
(Distinguished Alumnus,39. Abhinav Bakshi 82. Muneeb
IIM Ahmedabad, and 40. Abhishek Garg 83. Parikshit Khanna
President, Richards 41. Abhishek Shaw 84. Praharshita Krishna
College of Business, 42. Adrita Deb Burman 85. Prajval Bharat Somani
University of West Georgia)
43. Advaita R 86. Pranidhi Rawat
9. Hareesh S 44. Agniv Mukherjee 87. Pranjal Srivastava
10. Harsh Ranjan 45. Ahmed Ashhar 88. Prateek Shah
11. Mahroof Vellakkatte 46. Ambesh Singh 89. Premnandhakumar K
12. Md Rashid Eijaz 47. Anar 90. Rahul Patidar
13. Mohammed Raafi 48. Ankit Saraf 91. Rahul Raj Sharma
14. Nitisha Tomar 49. Anshul Gupta 92. Rajat Chaturvedi
15. Peter Menezes 50. Arnab Mohanta 93. Rakesh Godara
16. Sanjukta Chakraborty 51. Arun Pandian 94. Ratan Jeldi
17. Shubham Goswami 52. Ashok Suresh Das 95. Resla Rebin
18. Shuja Hussain 53. Athi Karthick V 96. Rishabh Jain
19. Sohni R 54. Ayushi 97. Rohit Sunil
20. Sriharsha Vavilala 55. Bency Tadanki 98. Saba Fateh
21. Vignesh Annamalai 56. Bhavesh Manat 99. Salik Faraz
22. Yashaswi Chawla 57. Bikalp Chamola 100. Samarth Sethi
58. Chhavi Gupta 101. Shashwat Salgaocar
Faculty 59. Chitra Mathur 102. Shikha
23. Abhiman Das 60. Devansh Chaudhary 103. Shirin Sachin Patil
24. Ankur Sarin 61. G. Sumedha Syam 104. Shreya Chandra
25. Chinmay Tumbe 62. Gurpreet Singh 105. Shubham Agarwal
26. George Kandathil 63. Harjinder Singh Nathal 106. Shubhankar Sharma
27. Jagdeep Chhokar (Former 64. Harsh Mittal 107. Soumay Gupta
Director-in-charge) 65. Ishaan Chauhan 108. Sriharsha Chippa
28. Jaswant Krishnayya 66. Jayesh Saraf 109. Srishti
(Former Faculty) 67. Joel Xavier 110. Steffi Chinir
68. K Surya Prakash 111. Sunny Rajak
 
 
112. Sushil kumar 122. Abdullah 135. Rubaina Shrivastava
113. Tanjum Haque 123. David Dinakaran
114. Tanya Kumar 124. Luthufi M In Solidarity
115. Urmi 125. Mohammad hashim 136. Aman Bansal (Resident,
116. Utkarsh Bajpai 126. Narendra Kumar IIM Ahmedabad)
117. Vamika Singh 127. Shraddha Upadhyay 137. Divya Ravindranath
118. Venkatesh Muthuraman L 128. Suhair KK (Alumnus, TISS)
119. Vishal Bansal 129. Anmol Somanchi 138. Jeemol Unni (Faculty,
120. Vishesh Sinha 130. Arka Das Ahmedabad University)
121. Vishwajeet Singh 131. Bhumi Trivedi 139. Kishore Jose (Faculty,
132. Garima Khemani Central University of
Associates and 133. Ishu Gupta Gujarat)
Researchers 134. Karan Babbar

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