Around 300 students and alumni from over a dozen prominent American universities, including Harvard, Columbia, Yale and Stanford, have issued a joint statement condemning what they called the "brutal police violence unleashed against students" at the Jamia Millia Islamia and the Aligarh Muslim Universities during their recent protests against the Citizenship Act.
They also demanded "an immediate, independent, and robust investigation into the abuse of power by the Delhi Police, Uttar Pradesh Police, and the Central Reserve Police Force".
"We, students, alumni and the wider community, at universities across the USA, condemn the brutal police violence unleashed against students at Jamia Millia Islamia University and at Aligarh Muslim University on December 15, 2019, as a gross violation of human rights under the Constitution of India and International Human Rights Law," said the statement signed by the students and alumni of several universities in the USA.
The Jamia university had turned into a battlefield on Sunday as police entered the campus and also used force, following protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, which led to violence and arson. On the same evening, police entered the campus of AMU and also used force.
"We express full solidarity with students across universities in India who are peacefully protesting against the recent passing of the unconstitutional and discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act," the statement said.
Thousands of students across India took to the streets on Monday demanding a probe into the use of teargas inside the Jamia university's library as well as police entering the campus without permission from university authorities on Sunday.
Describing the right to protest as "a cornerstone of a constitutional democracy", the statement said, "any use of force by law enforcement must be within the strict confines of the principles of legality, legitimacy, necessity and proportionality under International Human Rights Law."
The statement demanded that student protestors be allowed to continue to protest peacefully. It also urged Home Minister Amit Shah to "immediately take necessary steps to curb police brutality..."
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