'Not Violence and Intimidation, But Dialogue and Justice': 100 Writers and Artists Back Student Protesters

A group of 100 writers and artists from India has issued a statement of solidarity with protesting students across the country, who are demanding that the government address the persistent, deep-rooted irregularities in the education system, following the far-reaching and grave consequences of the state's repeated failures to do so. 

The following is the full text of the open letter.

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We, the undersigned writers, and artists of India, express our unwavering solidarity with the students across the country who are demanding transparency, accountability,  and comprehensive reforms in the conduct of public examinations. The repeated instances of question paper leaks and other irregularities have gravely questioned the  integrity of public institutions.  

We are deeply disturbed by the reports of use of force against students engaged in peaceful democratic protest in different parts of the country, including at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. In a constitutional democracy, the legitimate concerns of young citizens must be met with dialogue and justice, not by violence and intimidation. 

We call upon the Government of India and the concerned State Governments to take swift and stringent action against all those responsible for examination paper leaks  and related malpractice. We also demand an honest dialogue with the students and an  impartial inquiry into the incidents of violence against students and unwarranted use of  force. 

We stand with the students of India in their peaceful struggle for justice, accountability and a trustworthy examination system. We urge fellow writers, artists and  thinkers from all parts of the country to come out in support of the demands of students  to decide the future of our democracy.

We the undermentioned writers and artists give our consent to above statement:

1. Satchidanandan
2. Ashok Vajpeyi
3. Damodar Mauzo
4. Mahesh Elkunchwar 
5. Banu Mushtaq
6. Mallika Sarabhai
7. Bhalachandra Nemade
8. Kanji Patel
9. Vasant Abaji Dahake
10. A.J. Thomas
11. Arun Kamal
12. Chandrakant Patil
13. Githa Hariharan
14. Peggy Mohan
15. Rajesh Joshi
16. Gitanjali Shree
17. Prafull Shiledar
18. Kamalakar Bhatt
19. Anwar Ali
20. Anamika
21. Ranganath Pathare
22. Prabodh Parikh
23. Kamal Vora
24. Atul Dodiya
25. Udayan Vajpeyi
26. Swati Joshi
27. Neela Adarkar
28. Sanjukta Wagh
29. Rimli Bhattacharya
30. Amrut Gangar
31. Ajay Rawl
32. Shirin  Gandhi
33. Raynuka Nidagundi
34. Anju Dodiya
35. Varjesh Solanki
36. Deepak Rawal
37. Chirantana Bhatt
38. Harish Minashru
39. Kumar Ambuj
40. Jivan Singh
41. Premchand  Gandhi
42. Hemendra Chandaliya
43. Prabal Kumar Basu
44. Amar Mitra
45. Bikash Roy
46. Debbarma
47. Vandana Tete
48. Vahru Sonvane
49. Pradnya Daya Pawar
50. Joram  Yalam
51. Nilim Kumar
52. Snehlata Negi
53. Santanu Sarma
54. Atul Pethe
55. Rajan Gavs
56. Pravin Bandekar
57. Satpal Bhikhi
58. Heera Meena
59. Pravin Pandya
60. Bakul Tailor
61. B. Rajeevan
62. Savithri Rajeevan
63. J. Devika
64. Ramesh Karthik Naik
65. Hemant Divate
66. P. Raman
67. P.N. Gopikrishnan
68. P.P. Ramchandran
69. Ishan Marvel
70. Kedarnath Mishra
71. Parijat Pandya
72. Ranjana Argade
73. Angshuman Kar
74. Rita Kothari
75. Pratibha Nandakumar
76. Swapnamoy Chakraborty
77. Joseph S.
78. Prabha Majumdar
79. Sucharita Dutta-Asane
80. Mrityunjay Kumar Singh
81. Meena Kandasamy
82. Parthiv Shah
83. K.R. Tony
84. Rafiq Ahmed
85. Rahamat Tarikere
86. Rajendra Chenni
87. Sudhir Chandra
88. Ranjit Hoskote
89. Sanjeev Khandekar
90. Ruchir Joshi
91. Manisha Joshi
92. Monika Biswas
93. Moushumi Bhoumik
94. Ayesha  Agrawal
95. Danish Husain
96. Mamata Sagar
97. Mehul Devkala
98. Gopika Jadeja
99. Umesh Solanki
100. Devanooru Mahadeva
101. Paranjoy Guha-Thakurta

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