Many of us have been disturbed by what is happening in Kashmir, and have felt helpless at our inability to do anything about it.
Some of us felt that it would be very useful to have a statement from members of the academic and scientific community registering our opposition to the government’s policies. Our objective was to (a) at least marginally modify the public narrative by emphasizing that not everyone in India agrees with the Indian government’s policies (b) extend solidarity to our own Kashmiri colleagues and friends, who are obviously going through very difficult circumstances.
We were able to gather more than 500 signatures in about 24 hours.
This is the statement that we issued https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aGJ8jmPJcsTnrsx9FCqQQEKuhn4o2pUeEW0gUg0JQLk/edit?usp=sharing
The statement has had some broader impact and today, several media outlets have reported on it. Here are a few reports. The BBC newshour also recorded a brief story on the issue (update: link below)
BBC Newshour: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w172wq4whqzlbmv (from 14:00)