STUDENTS’ APPEAL TO THE CIVIL SOCIETY

We, the undersigned students, make an appeal to the civil society to stand by the beleaguered
people of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, soon to be reorganised and reduced to the status of
a union territory, as decreed by the majoritarian might of the Indian Parliament. The same was
made possible by the Presidential Order, dated 5 August 2019, revoking the state’s special
status, which stood protected under Article 370 of the Constitution, and had formed the very
basis of its troubled accession to the Dominion of India in 1947.

On 2 August 2019, the Hindu reported that the government had asked Amaranth pilgrims to
shorten their stay and urgently leave the state, citing intelligence inputs of “specific terror
threats”, while deploying additional military troops. On 5 August 2019, the Telegraph reported
that restrictions under Section 144, of the Criminal Procedure Code, were imposed in Srinagar,
and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Ministers, Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, who
have been part of mainstream Indian politics, were put under house arrest. Subsequently, the
residents of Jammu and Kashmir were faced with a complete communications blackout, with
landlines, cellular connectivity, and internet services snapped, as their fate was unilaterally
decided by politicians in New Delhi, in complete violation of the spirit of democracy and
fundamental human rights, which entail popular participation in decision making and the right
to self-determination. Following the imposition of restrictions, international news agencies
such as the BBC, Reuters, and Al Jazeera have reported on the daily hardships being faced by
the people in the valley.

By silencing the voices of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, through the deployment of
military force and severance of communication lines, power exposed the fault lines of the
world's largest democracy. This repression is inclusive of a brutal psychological warfare
against a people claimed to be an integral part of the Indian body-politic. Journalists and
reporters have faced severe restraints on the production and circulation of reports from
Kashmir, due to the curb on mobility and communication, seemingly an attempt to render the
sufferings of the people of Jammu and Kashmir unarchived, dismembered from the received
memory of humanity. Perhaps, the policy makers are aware of the fact that memory is
resistance.

We note with serious concern that the valley of Kashmir has been a site of the most heinous
human rights violations over the years, in which non-violent civilian protests have been met
with brutal use of military force. The use of tear gas and shotgun pellet, sans discrimination,
has claimed many lives and livelihoods, and continues to inflict intimidation on a people who
have been on the edge for several decades. Numerous instances of fake encounter killings,
forced disappearances, custodial torture, rape and abuse have been documented in reports like
"Everyone Lives in Fear": Patterns of Impunity in Jammu and Kashmir published by the
Human Rights Watch (September 2006) and Buried Evidence Unknown, Unmarked, and Mass
Graves in Indian-administered Kashmir published by the International People's Tribunal on
Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir (December, 2009).

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We are equally pained and appalled to learn about the vicious and inconsiderate remarks on
Kashmiri women made by people holding high political offices in the public sphere. On 10
August 2019, the Hindu reported that while addressing a function at Fatehbad, the Chief
Minister of Haryana remarked that the political developments have paved the path for people
to bring their daughters-in-law from Kashmir. Our education informs us that land and woman,
the former as a site of expropriation and demographic alteration, and the latter as a site of non-
consensual desire and sexual violence, have historically informed the mentalité of conquest.
While the self-accorded agency of “bringing" daughters-in-law, irrespective of the provenance,
reeks of an unbridled culture of patriarchy and misogyny, to tie it with the paradox of an equally
undemocratic-in-spirit yet parliamentary-in-procedure abrogation, comes to uncover the
muscular authoritarianism of our times that plagues our world, relegating the democratic-
egalitarian to a flickering subterranean consciousness, struggling to survive at the interstice of
the majoritarian mandate.

We urge the civil society to reflect on the sufferings of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, that
comprises of various ethnicities, to move the court of law, and take to the streets non-violently,
demanding the restoration of communication and movement in Kashmir with immediate effect.
In absence of Kashmiri voices, it is our responsibility as global citizens committed to the idea
of democracy, to acknowledge that their voices have been stifled and sufficiently make space
for dissent, for which the release of political leaders and activists is imperative. We also urge
individuals and groups to reach out to Kashmiris living in various parts of the world, and offer
assistance, both materially and emotionally, standing in solidarity with them. While the
oppression suffered by the people of Jammu and Kashmir is singularly unique to their
experience, the struggle for justice, equality, and peace, against the might of villainous
authoritarianism, has to be a collective struggle, in which we take part as global citizens,
fraternising across cartographic borders.

1. Somok Roy, University of Delhi

2. Garima Sharma, Ambedkar University
3. Arnesh Nag, Symbiosis Law School, NOIDA
4. Satyam Yadav, Ramjas College, University of Delhi
5. Ameen Muhammed PS, Centre for Historical Studies, JNU
6. MD Zabed Ahmed, Lilong Haoreibi College, Manipur University
7. Pratibha, University of Delhi
8. Komire Sai Kumar, Ramjas College, University of Delhi
9. Aman Sinha, Ambedkar University, Delhi
10. Vaibhav, KMC, University of Delhi
11. Jyoti Chauhan, KMC, University of Delhi
12. Purvai Dwivedi, KMC, University of Delhi
13. Jyotirmoy Jishnu, KMC, University of Delhi
14. Yash Chaudhary, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi
15. Karnati Sravani, Delhi School of Social Work
16. Aman Azad, Ramjas College, University of Delhi
17. Moksh Kalra, University of Delhi

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18. Sanjib Kalita, KMC, University of Delhi
19. Mayank Charan, University of Delhi
20. Abinash Dash Choudhury, Jadavpur University
21. Sweta Dash, Ambedkar University
22. Sasaki, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi
23. Osheen, Ambedkar University
24. Pooja, TERI School of Advanced Studies
25. Sajid Ahmed, University of Delhi
26. Pratyay Bhattacharyya, Jadavpur University
27. Madhuvanti, MOP Vaishnav College for Women
28. Dhathri, Ramjas College, University of Delhi
29. Joshy Nongthobam, University of Delhi
30. Vighnesh Tekriwal, Ramjas College, University of Delhi
31. Mahashweta Raha, Rabindra Bharati University
32. Priyanka Patra, Jadavpur University
33. Swarnim Singh Rokey, KMC, University of Delhi
34. Aryan Khan, St. Wilfred College Jaipur, Rajasthan University
35. Shalom Gauri, Ambedkar University, Delhi
36. Kuldeep Patil, Shiv Nadar University, Dadri
37. Shweta Prasad, Ashoka University
38. Jishnunath PC, Tata Institute of Social Sciences
39. Aaqib Israr, University of Delhi
40. Giitanjali, Miranda House, University of Delhi
41. Qummar Ahmed, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi
42. Abhilash Banerjee, Jadavpur University
43. Shamik Nandi, Symbiosis Law School, NOIDA
44. Aahelee Bandyopadhyay, Douglas College, University of British Columbia
45. Sagolsem Santoshkumar Singh, University of Delhi
46. Alvira Nasir, Aligarh Muslim University
47. Sri Harsha Sai Matta, Ambedkar University, Delhi
48. Ishita Mohan, Ambedkar University
49. Ameen, Ramjas College, University of Delhi
50. Shiwani Agrawal, Symbiosis Law School, NOIDA
51. Sidra Qureshi, Ambedkar University
52. Dipanjali Singh, University of Delhi
53. Suchintan Das, St. Stephen’s College, Delhi
54. Arwa Vadnagarwala, St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi
55. Ananya Pandey, Ambedkar University
56. Khullakpam Sharif, Ambedkar University, Delhi
57. Shubhojeet Dey, Ambedkar University, Delhi
58. Anahita Nanda, Ramjas College, University of Delhi
59. Nabila Khadija Ansari, St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi
60. Aaron Ortiz, University of California, Santa Cruz
61. Sadaf Gani, St. Stephen's College

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62. Amulya Bhatia, Symbiosis Law School, NOIDA
63. Ningthoujam Yaikhomba Singh, Ambedkar University, Delhi
64. Souradeep Roy, School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU
65. Eshna Benegal, Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore
66. Priya Kini, Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore
67. Bhavya Goel, Ramjas College, University of Delhi
68. Sneha Chowdhury, JNU, Delhi
69. Himani Tripathy, University of Edinburgh
70. Shreya Mukhopadhyay, Sciences Po, Paris
71. Angela Abigail Hembrom, St. Stephen's College, Delhi
72. Prashastika, Ambedkar University, Delhi
73. Sanjana Banerjee, Jadavpur University
74. Anahida Bhardwaj, Symbiosis Law School, NOIDA
75. Ambuj Sen Patra, Ambedkar University, Delhi
76. Advaiy Chettri, Tata Institute of Social Sciences
77. Bhavya Malhotra, Ambedkar University, Delhi
78. Paribhasha Yadav, Ambedkar University, Delhi
79. Chandrika, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
80. Ishan Shah, Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology
81. Aakriti Suresh, University of Hyderabad
82. Manaswini Sen, University of Hyderabad
83. Divya Rai, University of Hyderabad
84. Unalita Phukan, University of Hyderabad
85. Abhilash Rajkhowa, Panjab University, Chandigarh
86. Akash Chattopadhyaya, University of Delhi

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