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Expressing solidarity with Indian and Pakistani students
India as the world’s largest democracy is coming under focus on account of the grossly undemocratic actions of the government of Narendra Modi, first in locking down Kashmir for months and inflicting brutal police and army actions against protesting unarmed Kashmiris, then enacting discriminatory laws on citizenship, and now letting loose armed goons at non-violent protesters on campuses. These are clear signs of the rise of majoritarian fascism, reminding us of the rise of Nazism in the 1930s. Non-violent protests against government policies are a universally accepted fundamental right. Trying to suppress such protests through undemocratic means is highly condemnable.
We know from our own experience in Pakistan that acts of suppression introduce gross distortions in societies, and when nations slide into such distortions, intelligentsia remains the only source of sane advice. We therefore condemn the rising fascism in India, deplore the highhanded policies of the Modi government, and express our complete solidarity with the non-violent protesters on Indian university campuses. We are sure that had student unions been allowed to function in Pakistan, they would have also expressed complete solidarity with the protesting Indian students.
(Signed)
1. Professor Akmal Hussain, economist
2. Dr. A. H. Nayyar, physicist
3. Beena Sarwar, journalist, editor, filmmaker
4. Nasir Zaidi, journalist and archivist
5. Dr Naazir Mahmood, columnist and educationist
6. Farman Ali, freelance journalist
7. Adnan Rehmat, freelance journalist
8. Fauzia Shahid, Freelance journalist
9. Rasheed Khalid, journalist, academician.
10. Ayub malik , political activist
11. Harris Khalique, Writer and Secretary-General HRCP
12. Mazhar Arif, journalist
13. Kaiser Bengali, economist
14. Zafarullah Khan, Journalist
15. Amir Rana, PIPS
16. Faheem Qureshi, Progressive Writers Association, Rawalpindi, Islamabad.
17. Nusrat Jamil
18. Shahid ur Rahman, Journalist
19. Professor M. Mazhar, Chemist
20. Jamil Ahmed Khan, Organising Secretary, Senior Journalist Forum [03345116897 ]
21. Asmatullah Niazi, Joirnalist
22. Dr. Asim Sajjad Akhtar, QAU
22. Saleha Ather, AWP, Toronto
24. Sanawar Balam, District Member, Human Rights and Minority Affair
25. Hasan Rizvi, Development Professional
26. Saleem Malik
27. Lala Hassan, Human rights Defender and media lawyer, Karachi
28. Dr. Riaz Ahmed Shaikh, SZABIST, Karachi
29. Arshad Waheed
30. Hamza Farooq, Media Consultant, SDPI
31. Karamat Ali, Secretary, National Labour Council.
