Dear friend 
It’s Wendy here, and I write on a serious matter.
Last month 20 homes of Indian activists, now being called “liberals” , mainly Dalit and pro poor activists, were invaded by police.
Each one had its cable and phone cut off, mostly the day before.
Five intellectuals were arrested.
Please help.
First by signing the petition, International Academics Condemn Assault on Freedom of Thought by the Indian State.

As of now, the petition has received hundreds of signatures. We need thousands.

Can you share this petition with all your friends?
Click it, very easy; https://petitions.moveon.org/p/e_95u_COh5p


Or Click below to share it on Facebook:
Facebook<https://petitions.moveon.org/fb_share?user_id=20674986&petition_id=136502&source=s.fb.ty&medium=email&mailing=thank_you>

Then, forward the email below to everyone you know.

Thanks!
Wendy Olsen and originator, 
—Ram Rawat


Here's a sample message to send to your friends:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi,

INTERNATIONAL ACADEMICS CONDEMN ASSAULT ON FREEDOM OF THOUGHT BY THE INDIAN STATE

“Across India on Tuesday [Aug 28, 2018], from New Delhi to Hyderabad to Ranchi, police officers carried out similar raids on the homes of at least a half-dozen activists, writers and lawyers. All were known for supporting resistance movements and marginalized groups, or for speaking out against the government.” (The New York Times, Aug 31, 2018)


Two prominent academics of international repute, Professors K. Satyanaryana and Anand Teltumbde were targeted by the Indian police force because of their activism and Dalit background. In each case, police have unlawfully entered, searched, and seized private property. This follows a pattern of targeted assaults on, and violence against Dalit and Tribal activists and writers. Not since the time of the National Emergency (1975-77) has India witnessed such an extensive and coordinated attack on Indian civil actors.
Dr. K. Satyanarayana, Professor of Cultural Studies and Dean, School of Interdisciplinary Studies, has made seminal contribution to the study of caste and to the field of Dalit Studies. The Indian police conducted an illegal raid on Dr. Satyanarayana’s house under the pretext of searching for his father-in-law, the renowned poet and activist, Varavara Rao, who was already under police custody. The Indian police entered his house without any search warrant and chastised Dr. Satyanarayana and his wife for not having any pictures of Hindu gods on their walls. They demanded to know why Dr. Satyanarayana read books by Marx and Ambedkar. The police seized three laptops, hard drives, pen drives, research material, and books. Dr. Satyanarayana’s thirty years of research is now in danger of being completely destroyed. His prominent books include, Dalit Writings in South India: No Alphabet in Sight, 2011; Steel Nibs are Sprouting, 2013; and Dalit Studies, 2016. In Januar y 2018, Dr. Satyanaryana organized the Dalit Studies conference at CSDS, Delhi, together with a group of scholars.

Dr. Anand Teltumbde, Senior Professor and Chair Big Data Analytics at the Goa Institute of Management, India, is among India’s most important public intellectuals writing on Dalit issues today. An alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad and well-known human right activist and a regular commentator in Indian media, Professor Teltumbde has published books and articles on Dalit related issues. His prominent books include, The Persistence of Caste: The Khairlanji Murders and India’s Hidden Apartheid, 2010; Hindutva and Dalits, 2017. He is a regular contributor to the renowned journal, The Economic and Political Weekly. The police broke into his house even though his entire family was away. The police also seized Professor Teltumbde’s computer, research materials, and books.

As academics from across the world—the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, Singapore, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and Africa—we are distressed and deeply concerned about this assault on Indian academics belonging to the Dalit community. If India is to remain the world’s largest democracy in any meaningful sense, it is incumbent on the current government in India to observe the rule of law and respect citizens’ right to freedom of thought, religion, and speech. We oppose and protest the concerted attack on academic freedom and progressive traditions within Indian universities that the Indian government led by Prime Minister Narender Modi has launched.

We demand that personal belongings and research materials which were illegally seized by the police be returned immediately to Professors Satyanarayana and Teltumbde. We condemn the targeting of individuals under spurious charges of anti-national activity. We demand that the other activists who have been detained should be immediately released from the cus tody in which they are unlawfully and unjustly held.


Signed,


That's why I signed a petition to Shri Ram Nath Kovind, President of India, Dipak Misra, Justice, Supreme Court, India, Ram Shankar Katheria, Chairman, Nationl Commission for Scheduled Castes, and Chairman, National Human Rights Commission, which says:

"We demand that personal belongings and research materials which were illegally seized by the police be returned immediately to Professors Satyanarayana and Teltumbde. "

Will you sign the petition, too? Click here to add your name:

https://petitions.moveon.org/p/e_95u_COh5p

Thanks!

________________________________
You're receiving this message because you signed the International Academics Condemn Assault on Freedom of Thought by the Indian State petition on the MoveOn.org<http://moveon.org> petition website. MoveOn Civic Action does not endorse the contents of this email or the petitions posted on MoveOn's public petition website. If you don't want to receive e-mail about this petition, click here to unsubscribe<https://petitions.moveon.org/unsub.html?i=thanks_137271-20674986-AxWIQi>.
--
******Thanks for the email. On Thursdays and Sundays I limit my "screen time", so there may be a delay in my reply! WO. *******. *******Sent from Gmail Mobile
******************************************************
Please note that if you press the 'Reply' button your
message will go only to the sender of this message.
If you want to reply to the whole list, use your mailer's
'Reply-to-All' button to send your message automatically
to [log in to unmask]
Disclaimer: The messages sent to this list are the views of the sender and cannot be assumed to be representative of the range of views held by subscribers to the Radical Statistics Group. To find out more about Radical Statistics and its aims and activities and read current and past issues of our newsletter you are invited to visit our web site www.radstats.org.uk.
*******************************************************