The University of Hyderabad Teachers' Association (UHTA) has passed a resolution disapproving what they have called the 'discriminatory' nature of the CAA legislation. They also said in a statement that the violence unleashed on students and citizens is 'unprecedented and reeks not of an effort to restore order but to vent hatred'. This is one of the first open statements of opposition made from teachers of a government-run institution in the South.
The UHTA condemned the fact that police detained the students on campus even before they started the protest recently, "This is despite the fact that the students had built a credible track record of registering peaceful and democratic protests on the issue." They pointed out that similar detentions had been seen in BHU, Jadavpur University, JNU and other institutions preventing their democratic right to protest.
"UHTA reiterates its commitment to represent all teachers and their interests cutting across social differences and we urge the administration to treat all the faculty equally and detest from any form of discrimination. The CAA in its current form is not only divisive on communal lines but also defeats the orginally stated purpose of carrying out an expensive NRC in Assam for protecting the interests of the adivasis," they wrote in their statement.
While stating that no one has the right to vandalise anything as part of their protest, the Association said that it cannot be taken as a pretext by a responsible law enforcement agency which has the onus of protecting the life, liberty and properties of civilians to defeat the very purpose of their line of duty. "Reports of head injuries, loss of eyesight and bullet injuries to students have come together with police registering FIRs against students who get admitted to seek medical care at hospitals making it a despicable level of inhumanity meted out to the youth of the nation," they wrote. The Associaton also condemned any effort to politicise and communalise the security forces and to use them as a force to advance an ideology.
"Security forces should never be employed to escalate polarisation by targetting particular minority groups, rather they should be allowed to perform autonomously, the purpose it has to serve, towards delivering its constitutional obligations, without fervour or favour," the Association said. They go on to mention that police brutality reeked of hatred and that students are great assets for the nation and its people, for the future to come.
Calling the NPR-NRC-CAA a nightmare for several sections of the society and not just one particular community, the Association said that the peaceful and democratic protests across the nation calls for a 'rethinking by any responsive government'. Especially since many state governments have also reversed their stand in the last few days, "Would this not imply that adequate deliberation with the civilians and amongst polictical parties was quite clearly lacking. Any responsive government would hold a beacon of hope to cultivating the true spirit of solidarity across all communities which constitutes the essence of nationalism and democracy."
Pending the approval of the UHTA GBM, the UHTA will resolve to demand that the CAA be repealed and no further action be initiated in NPR or NRC.
