We are shocked and horrified to learn of the terrible attack on the Jawaharlal Nehru University on the evening on 5 January 202, by a group of armed goons who targeted a peaceful gathering of teachers and students. We note that this terrible event comes in the wake of a prolonged struggle by the students against a fee hike that would force nearly half of them to abandon their studies, and after an even longer series of protests by the faculty and students of JNU against the many arbitrary and illegal actions of the JNU Vice Chancellor over nearly three years. We are extremely concerned at the apparent failure of the Delhi Police (which is directly under the Home Ministry) to identify the perpetrators despite much photographic and video evidence, to register the complaints made by faculty and students about the attack, and the malicious attempt to pin the blame for the attack on some of the victims.

It is clear to us that a Vice Chancellor who exposes his faculty and students to such terror and who is guilty of many other actions undermining the academic and other functioning of the University, cannot remain in office. As academics from universities across the world, we join those who demand that the JNU Vice Chancellor should be removes forthwith, as he has lost all national and international legitimacy.

Signatories:

1. Alicia Puyana, Flacso, Mexico
2. Andres Lazzarini, Goldsmiths College, London
3. Andrew Cornford, Counsellor, Geneva Finance Observatory Andrew Cornford, Geneva Finance Observatory, Switzerland
4. Anya Stiglitz, Columbia University, New York
5. Barkin Asal, formerly Istanbul University, Turkey
6. Ben Fine, SOAS, University of London, UK
7. Burak Gurel, Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey
8. C. W. M Naastepad, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
9. Caroline S. Hossein, York University, UK
10. Cecilia Lopez, CoSOE, Bogota, Colombia
11. Christopher Baker, Bangkok, Thailand
12. Danai Mupotsa, University of Witswatersrand, South Africa
13. Diana Strassman, Rice University, USA
14. Edward Fulbrook, University of the West of England, UK
15. Erhan Kelesoglu, Istanbul University, Turkey
16. Erinc Telgan, Bilkent University, Turkey
17. Fikret Baskaya, Free University, Ankara, Turkey
18. Francesca Bettio, University of Siena, Italy
19. Galip Yalman, Middle Eastern Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
20. Gerald Epstein, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA
21. Giovanni Andrea Cornia, University of Florence, Italy
22. Gokce Cihan, Istanbul University
23. Ingrid Harvold Kvangraven, University of York, UK
24. Isil Cakan Haciibrahimoglu, Istanbul University
25. Jane Humphries, University of Oxford, UK
26. Jose Antonio Ocampo, Columbia University, New York
27. Juan Carlos Moreno Brid, UNAM, Mexico City
28. K. Velupillai, Formerly University of Trento, Italy
29. Korkut Boratav, Istanbul University, Turkey
30. Kurtar Tanyilmaz, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey
31. Levent Dolek, formerly Istanbul University, Turkey
32. M. A. Savage, LSE, London, UK
33. Marcella Corsi, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
34. Marga Olivera, Universidad federal de Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
35. Mariana Mazzucato, University College London, UK
36. Marjorie Griffin Cohen, Simon Fraser University, Canada
37. Martha Nussbaum, University of Chicago, USA
38. Mehmet Bona, Istanbul University
39. Mehmet Cemil Ozansu, formerly Istanbul University, Turkey
40. Melda Yaman Ozturk, formerly Samsun 19 Mayis University, Turkey
41. Mert Ertan, Istanbul University
42. Mustafa Kemal Coskun, formerly Ankara University, Turkey
43. Myra Stober, Stanford University, USA
44. Nalini Burn, Mauritius
45. Nilgun Ongan, Istanbul University, Turkey
46. Nobuharu Yokokawa, Musashi University, Tokyo
47. Noemi Levy, UNAM, Mexico City
48. Ozgur Ozturk, formerly Samsun 19 Mayis University, Turkey
49. Pasuk Phongpaichit, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
50. Rainer Kattel, University College London, UK
51. Richard Jude Rowden, American University, Washington DC, USA
52. Robert Pollin, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA
53. Robert Wade, LSE, London, UK
54. Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, New School University, New York
55. Savaş Karabulut, Istanbul University, Turkey
56. Sevtap Metin, Istanbul University
57. Servaas Storm, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
58. Siobhan Austen, Curtin University, Australia
59. Sungur Savran, Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey
60. T. Hakan Ongan, Professor, formerly of Istanbul University, Turkey
61. Vivianne Ventura-Dias, Santiago, Chile
62. Walden Bello, Manila Philippines
63. Zulkuf Aydin, Middle Eastern Technical University, Ankara, Turkey