Statement Regarding Attacks on Indian Universities
January 9, 2020
INTERNATIONAL STATEMENT FROM A COALITION OF DANCE, PERFORMANCE AND THEATRE ASSOCIATIONS REGARDING ATTACKS ON INDIAN UNIVERSITIES
The Indian government’s recent introduction of the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in December 2019 has led to large-scale and peaceful nationwide protests, which have been met with violence, particularly against student communities.
We, the undersigned dance, performance and theatre associations of scholars, educators and practitioners, vehemently condemn the violent attacks on student and faculty at universities across India including Jamia Millia Islamia University and Aligarh Muslim University (15 December 2019) by the police, and most recently at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi (5 January 2020) by masked perpetrators on university premises.
We further condemn the lack of duty of care demonstrated by the JNU administration in not protecting their staff and students.
We call for the appointment of a non-partisan investigative committee to identify those responsible for these acts of violence, so that they are brought to justice.
We stand with our Indian colleagues and students who are leading an intellectual uprising against the state’s consistent curtailment of all forms of democratic and secular debate and dissent, in the face of threats of further extreme brutality.
As disciplines committed to examining the relationships between embodiments and power, we strongly support the democratic rights of our Indian colleagues and students to put their bodies on the line in peaceful protests, without fear of state-sanctioned violence.
African Theatre Association (AfTA), UK
American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR), USA
Association for Asian Performance (AAP), USA
Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), USA
Canadian Association for Theatre Research (CATR/ACRT), CA
Dance Studies Association (DSA), USA
International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR)
Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA), USA
Mid-America Theatre Conference (MATC), USA
Performance Studies international (PSi)
Société québécoise d’études théâtrales (SQET), Québec, CA
Society for Dance Research (SDR), UK
Standing Conference of University Drama Departments (SCUDD), UK
Theatre & Performance Research Association (TaPRA), UK