Shri. Pranab Kumar Mukherjee,
His Excellency the President of India,
Rashtrapati Bhavan,
New Delhi.

Sir,

We, a group of Indian citizens, organized under the banner of PRAHAAR (People’s Resistance Against Hatred And Authoritarian Repression) urge you to mediate in the matter of the ongoing JNU students’ indefinite fast against injustice meted out to them by the JNU Administration.

The disproportionately stringent disciplinary action taken by the JNU Administration against the student leaders is not only unwarranted, but also seems to be inspired by some ulterior motive. We fail to understand as to what inspired the JNU Administration to take disproportionally stringent action against such bright and promising students, especially when most of the so-called misdemeanors are also the subject matter of ongoing investigations/court proceedings that are currently sub judice.

As you are well aware, of late, several institutions of higher learning have been the target of Machiavellian intrigues and political machinations. In its eagerness and zeal to suppress the voices of well-informed dissent, the Government of the day seems to have turned against its own youth. Since the last two years, democratic space has been shrinking at an alarming rate and the country is finding itself in the clutches of bigotry, extreme intolerance and unprecedented authoritarian repression. Universities are meant to encourage freethinking and churning out of new ideas. Fearless critique of the old and established ideas forms the bedrock of any aspiring egalitarian social order. Freedom of thought and expression are inalienable prerequisites for germination of new ideas. It is therefore a great tragedy that universities that took pride in their liberalism have been chosen as prime targets for suppression of the freedoms guaranteed by our constitution.

Sir, we urge you to kindly use your good offices to intervene in the JNU imbroglio and ensure that better sense prevails. The bright youngsters studying at JNU are the future of this country. They are the torchbearers of our collective hope. The least we can, and must do, is to ensure that such promising youngsters are not made to bear the brunt of vindictive political hatred and authoritarian repression.

Our hopes rest on proactive and affirmative action from your end.

With warmest regards and great hope…

Yours sincerely,

Prof. Krishna Garg
Sanjiv Bhatt
Chandrasekaran Subramanian
Shweta Sanjiv Bhatt
Amita Buch
Nitin Barsur
Freeda Nicholas
Arun Pannalal
Rushda Sid
Hari Krishna Prahlad
Amitabha Basu
Snigdha Samal
Rajiv Tyagi
Seema Tyagi
Rakesh Thind,
Yazdy Rusi Palia
Anirban Mukherjee
Hari Krishna Prahlad
Alka Verma
Sidharthan PM
John August
Deepa Khadar
Karuna Sharma
Vistap Hodiwala
Peggy Mohan
Shams
Abhishek Singh
Ashima Jamal