Over 1,000 academicians write in support of CAA

New Delhi : As many as 1,100 academicians and research scholars from various universities across India and abroad as well as prominent persons released a statement in support of the amended Citizenship Act on Saturday.

The signatories to the statement include Rajya Sabha member Swapan Dasgupta, Shishir Bajoria, Chairman, IIM Shillong, Sunaina Singh, Vice Chancellor, Nalanda University, JNU professor Ainul Hasan, Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, Senior Fellow, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies and journalist Kanchan Gupta.

The statement comes in the midst of countrywide protests against the new citizenship law. Students from various universities have also joined the agitation. In the statement, the signatories appealed to every section of the society "to exercise restraint and refuse to fall into the trap of propaganda, communalism and anarchism".

"We also note with deep anguish that an atmosphere of fear and paranoia is being created in the country through deliberate obfuscation and fear-mongering, leading to violence in several parts of the country," the statement said.

Two weeks ago, over 1,000 scientists and scholars had signed a petition demanding that the Citizenship Amendment Bill in its current form be withdrawn, with noted academician Pratap Bhanu Mehta saying the legislation will transform India into an "unconstitutional ethnocracy".

The petition had come after the Lok Sabha had passed the bill and before it was passed in the Rajya Sabha. Later, 600 artistes, writers, academicians, former judges and former bureaucrats had urged the government to withdraw the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, terming it as "discriminatory, divisive" and violative of the secular principles enshrined in the Constitution.

The signatories to the statement congratulated Parliament for "standing up for forgotten minorities", "upholding the civilisational ethos of India" and "providing a haven for those fleeing religious persecution".