Linguist and activist Noam Chomsky and novelist Orhan Pamuk are among a host of thinkers who have come out in support of the students and teachers of JNU who have been protesting the crackdown on the campus.

“We have learnt of the shameful act of the Indian government which, invoking sedition laws formulated by India’s colonial rulers, ordered the police to enter the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus and unlawfully arrest a student leader, Mr. Kanhaiya Kumar, on charges of inciting violence - without any proof whatever of such wrongdoing on his part,” notes the statement signed by 93 people from around the world.

The signatories include philosopher Akeel Bilgrami, MIT scientist Mriganka Sur, linguist Judith Butler, Ahmedabad-specialist sociologist Jan Breman, indologist  Sheldon Pollock and film-maker Mira Nair.

Read the full statement here

Meanwhile, the JNU protesters are receiving support from various quarters