Syracuse University And SUNY-ESF Stand In Solidarity With HCU

By Concerned Faculty And Alumni

29 March, 2016
Countercurrents.org

Statement of Solidarity with Student Protestors at Hyderabad Central University and Mumbai

We, concerned students, faculty and alumni at Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF strongly condemn the police violence inflicted on students protesting the return of the Vice Chancellor Prof. AppaRaoPodile at Hyderabad Central University (HCU) on 22nd March 2016. Prof. AppaRaoPodile has been accused of abetting the suicide of an HCU Dalit scholar RohithVemula and stands charged under the Atrocities on SCs/STs Act. On the day in question, AppaRaoPodile resumed as Vice Chancellor on March 22nd, leading to protests being held against him by students of the University. The University responded by allegedly sanctioning a violent police lathi charge on students, followed by the detainment of 27 students and 2 faculty members, many of whom have faced violence in prison along with a violation of their constitutional rights to seek legal counsel. Students have reported being manhandled by the police, with women reporting having been touched inappropriately and threatened with rape. Muslim students have reported having been labelled "terrorists". In the days that followed students on campus were also deprived of food, water, access to their bank accounts via their debit cards as well as the internet. Students who attempted to cook for their fellow students were also subjected to physical violence by the police, with some being arrested and some being so grievously injured so as to require hospitalisation and intensive care. In addition, university officials prevented outsiders including the media and a National Fact Finding Team from entering the campus to conduct a fact-finding probe.

Equally troubling are similar instances of police brutality towards students and other protestors in Mumbai on 26th March, 2016, when students requesting police permission to conduct a protest meeting in solidarity with HCU were physically assaulted and detained. It must be noted that the police action in Mumbai is similar to that in Hyderabad, even though both cities belong to different states and are ruled by different state governments. The criminalisation of dissent in university spaces has not been limited to JNU and HCU, and students at educational institutions in other places such as Chennai and Pune have also reported being vulnerable to it.

We stand in solidarity with our student and faculty friends who challenge casteism, discrimination, and the silencing of dissent. We extend our support to them, even as we anticipate similar instances of violence on students in the future, given the precedent set in the last few days. The situation is made even more dangerous given the silence of the media on the issue, including news groups that made visible student protests during the Jawaharlal Nehru University crisis. This silence is disturbing, and symptomatic of a complete disinterest in caste-based discrimination.

In unity with statements of solidarity by students and faculty condemning ongoing and increasing violence on university campuses, we demand the following:

1. Removal of AppaRaoPodile as the Vice Chancellor.
2. The immediate withdrawal of the charges against the students and faculty members of HCU who have been arrested.
3. The withdrawal of police from the HCU campus and also a fair enquiry into the state of affairs at HCU.
4. The release of all students detained in connection with protesting the events at HCU.
5. An independent enquiry into all the events that took place at the VC's residence on 22nd March, 2016, including the vandalising of the VCs office.
6. Enactment of the Rohith Act against caste discrimination in educational institutions.

Signatories
1 Mitul Baruah Syracuse University
2 Taveeshi Singh Syracuse University
3 Siddarth Senthilkumaran Syracuse University
4 Pranay Sharma Syracuse University
5 Natasha S.K. Syracuse University
6 Rajesh Syracuse University
7 Bronson Curry SUNY-ESF
8 RohanChhetri Syracuse University
9 Elizabeth Gleesing Syracuse University
10 Sean Wang Syracuse University
11 Michael Branch Syracuse University
12 Olga Boichak Syracuse University
13 Kwame Edwin Otu Syracuse University
14 Susan Wadley Syracuse University
15 Chandra TalpadeMohanty Syracuse University
16 Terese Gagnon Syracuse University
17 Nicole Watson Syracuse University
18 CatrionaStandfield Syracuse University
19 PremaKurien Syracuse University
20 Rachel MacMaster Syracuse University
21 Barbara Applebaum Syracuse University
22 Hayley MaramaCavino Syracuse University
23 Laura Jaffee Syracuse University
24 Linh Nguyen Syracuse university
25 Ashley Cake Syracuse University
26 Liana Willis Syracuse University
27 Kiki Jones Syracuse University
28 SahilaKudalkar SUNY-ESF
29 Matt Huber Syracuse University
30 MadhuraLohokare Syracuse University
31 Jonas Hamberg SUNY-ESF
32 Teresa Rose Osborne SUNY-ESF
33 NidhiVij Syracuse University
34 Alexander P. Caven SUNY-ESF
35 Becky Meissner SUNY-ESF
36 Tod Rutherford Syracuse University
37 Emily Mitchell-Eaton Syracuse University
38 Sherry Martin SUNY-ESF
39 Jessie Speer Syracuse University
40 Jackie Orr Syracuse Univeristy
41 Angely Syracuse University
42 Anya Stanger UC Davis
43 Himika Bhattacharya Syracuse University
44 keishkim Syracuse University
45 KriangsakTeerakowitkajorn Syracuse University
46 Dalia Rodriguez Syracuse University
47 Monica Berdugo SUNY-ESF
48 ShantanuAnam Syracuse University
49 Lynn Dew Syracuse University
50 Jon Erickson Syracuse University
51 Tula Goenka Syracuse University
52 Jenna Sikka Syracuse University
53 ParvathyBinoy Syracuse University
54 Alisa Weinstein Syracuse University
55 SaptarshiLahiri SUNY-ESF
56 Jocelyn Killmer Syracuse University
57 Lauren Tarr SUNY-ESF
58 Crystal Bartolovich Syracuse University
59 Kimberly Powell Syracuse University