IIMA students, faculties, alumni up against suppression of dissent

A group of students, faculties and various noted alumni of prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) has signed a statement against "suppression of democratic expression of dissent" while condemning the police excess on students of various universities in the country.

The statement has been signed by 145 persons that include "distinguished" alumni Anand Teltumbde, scholar and civil right activist, Anjani Jain, Deputy Dean, Yale University School of Management, Beheruz Sethna, President, Richards College of Business, University of West Georgia. Among the faculties are Ankur Sarin, Chinmay Tumbe, Kavitha Ranganathan, Navdeep Mathur, Rakesh Basant, Reetika Khera, Samir Barua, who is also a former director of the institute and Sebastian Morris.

The statement reads, "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 Millia Islamia University, Aligarh Mulsim University and other educational institutes."

It also notes the concern about "unlawful and arbitrary detention of members of IIMA fraternity." The statement condemns "the arbitrary and continued imposition of section 144 of 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."

It is to be noted that some faculties of IIMA have also challenged the repeated imposition of section-144 of code of criminal procedure in the Gujarat high court. This section bars assembly of more than five persons without police permission.

During an agitation against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, one of the faculties had been detained and was roughed up by the city police.

On the other hand, on January 5, about a dozen policemen had entered the campus and tried to disrupt an event organised by the students for themselves. The event included sit-in, canvas signing, preamble reading, candlelight vigil and discussion. Due to police presence, the event was held inside the classroom instead of in the open space.