Baroda attack

To:  Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust

We, the undersigned academics, wish to voice our strong protest and condemnation of the recent political attack on a graduate student at the prestigious Faculty of Fine Arts, M. S. University, Baroda, India by a group of political activists with the help of the Police. The student, Chandramohan, was arrested without charges on grounds of obscenity and offending religious sentiments. We are also deeply distressed about the blatantly unfair suspension of Dean Dr. Shivaji Panikkar, one of the leading art historians of India. We further object to the fact that the police entered an academic examination space not intended for the public and that the university administration colluded in this breach of academic freedom. This is a shameful moment in the history of Indian democracy. We call upon everyone in the academic community and, indeed, everyone interested in democracy, secularism, academic freedom and freedom of expression to sign our petition. Let us do all we can to ensure that Baroda never happens again.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Baroda attack Petition to Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust was created by and written by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (gcspivak@gmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

share:   blogger     del.icio.us     digg     facebook     furl     reddit     slashdot     send to a friend

Send Petition to a Friend - Petition FAQ - Start a Petition - Contributions - Privacy - Media Kit - Comments and Suggestions