Staff at the Institute have expressed their solidarity with students and teachers at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), India, and are greatly concerned by the recent events that threaten free speech and debate.
IDS Director Professor Melissa Leach said:
“We firmly believe that attempts to threaten an open intellectual atmosphere in which all views can be expressed without fear cannot be allowed to go unchallenged. We respect JNU as one of the premier institutes of learning and free thinking that has nurtured intellectual talent across the world.
We condemn the arrests and raids carried out on the campus in the past weeks and urge the JNU leadership to take effective action to prevent future arrests and address reports of increasing surveillance and acts of repression and harassment against students and faculty.
We support JNU colleagues in their quest to withstand pressure and protect the right to express critical views peacefully. Undermining such rights will negatively affect JNU’s reputation as a world renowned university working to support democratic decision-making processes and enhanced social justice in a global world.
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