This post is an expression of solidarity of the team of Campus Perspectives with Professor Hany Babu, an associate professor of the English department of the University of Delhi. His house was raided without a search warrant by the Pune police in the early hours of today morning, on his alleged involvement in the Elgar Parishad Bhima-Koregaon case; and his phone, laptops, books and pendrives were taken. We at Campus Perspectives condemn these acts of arbitrary actions against the teachers who are the very pillars of the civil society of tomorrow. As we stand by the values of freedom of thought and expression, we in full support of Professor Hany Babu in this time of crisis. There is a flash protest by his students tomorrow (11th of September, 2019) at 2 o'clock at the Arts Faculty Gate. We hope our readers are able to join in the protest, because it is during times like these that we need to come together and fight against the forces that are attacking the very roots of our freedom to think and freedom to be.
Following is the message of support drafted by the Professor's students:
*Statement in Support of Prof. Hany Babu and Open Call for Protest*
We, the students of the English Department, Delhi University, express our outrage upon learning that the house of Prof. Hany Babu has been raided by the police alleging he was involved in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case which the Pune police are investigating. They entered his house at 6:30 am, without any warrant, searched for six hours, seized his phone, laptop, books and pendrives.
This is in line with the raid which happened last year at the residence of Prof. Satyanarayana from EFLU, Hyderabad. These surprise searches without warrants are illegal and amount to extreme harassment. It is incumbent upon legal institutions to oppose such arbitrary raids and prevent/oppose the misuse of inherently dangerous laws such as the UAPA. The Pune police has, in the past, arrested five human rights activists, and have tried to arrest other human rights activists but were prevented from doing so after the Supreme Court stepped in. Since then, the Bombay High Court has released Dr Anand Teltumbde after his arrest by the Pune police in connection with the same case. The same court also extended Gautam Navlakha’s period of protection from arrest after it found no substantial evidence against him. The good judgement of our honourable courts suggests that this case is nothing but an example of prolonged intimidation and harassment by the Pune police, and, by extension, the current government in power, to silence activists, professors and other citizens who support human rights in this country.
We, the current and former students of Prof. Hany Babu, offer our unconditional support and express our confidence in him. Hany Babu, among many other professional duties, teaches an M Phil course on language policy and linguistic debates. In one of his classes, he had shared the 2015 Chennai Declaration of Linguistic Rights with us. Here are some excerpts from the document:
_“Considering that the current language policies of the Union Government of India are detrimental to the very survival and development of languages spoken by various communities in the Indian Union,_
…
_Considering that in the name of development, English is given over-emphasis and the all pervasive and increasing phenomenon of English dominating every aspect of our lives and replacing all the languages in the Indian Union in the public and private spaces, thus restricting our linguistic, cultural and economic choices;_
…
_HEREBY DECLARE THAT_
_All languages in the Indian Union are considered to be equal and each language community has the right to conserve, develop and empower their languages in all possible ways and means in a democratic milieu.”_
Given how much Hany Babu cares for language equality and the inalienable right of every language in the Union of India to advance, it is indeed shocking that the Indian state has harassed such an individual. Teaching in an English department, Hany Babu also understood the immense power the English language carried with itself, and helped many of us understand the inevitable exclusions the English language makes possible. Hany Babu’s demand for language equality is allied to his demand for breaking caste exclusions in how knowledge is organised, as his article published in The Economic and Political Weekly testifies. Apart from being a teacher at DU, Hany Babu is also part of the Alliance for Social Justice, a forum for opposing caste discrimination in the university. We feel the Indian state should recognise the importance of the work that he does towards the creation of an equitable society as both an academic and an activist. If any student, or a teacher for that matter, faced any form of discrimination, they knew that Hany Babu’s door was always open for them. As students we do not merely learn from him as a teacher, but are also inspired by his political work.
And just as Hany Babu taught us to care for language rights, we demand that the Indian state accord him the dignity to live with his inalienable rights as a citizen of India. Even if the Indian state fails to keep its promise, we take this opportunity to offer our unconditional solidarity to Hany Babu, who is not just a citizen of India (a mere official status given by the sovereign state), but also our professor. We offer our support and solidarity to our Professor.
*We call upon every progressive forces in the campus, teachers and current and former students of Prof. Hany Babu to join in the protest organized by the students of English Department, DU, in front of the Arts Faculty (North Campus,DU) at 2pm, 11 September, 2019.*
Regards,
_Students of English Department,_
_Delhi University_
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