As peace loving citizens of India, we strongly condemn the police brutalities unleashed upon the protesting students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

We believe that public universities are spaces where students from all social and economic backgrounds must have access to quality education. The student movement in JNU deserves a huge credit for encouraging debate and dialogue on the nature of and access to public education in India. The students have every right to a peaceful protest and any attempt to crush these protests with violence is a blatant attack on democracy and its institutions.

We extend our full solidarity to the student movement in JNU. A university space should be one that encourages minds to read, write, debate, and discuss. As a part of this, they should also have the freedom to question the prevailing systems of governance.

We urge everyone who believes in democracy and the right to dissent to come forward and sign this petition.