Committee of Concerned Scientists

An international non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.

An independent non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Annual Reports
    • Contact Information
    • History
    • Leadership
  • CCS Active Case Updates
  • Human Rights Resources
    • Human Rights Orgs
    • General HR Res
    • US Govt Agencies
  • Donations

Pregnant Student Arrested for Participation in Peaceful Protest Against Citizenship Amendment in Delhi

July 18, 2020

July 18, 2020

Shri Ram Nath Kovind
President
c/o Shri Kumar Samresh
Public Relations Officer, Museum
President’s Secretariat
Rashtrpati Bhavan
New Delhi 110004 India
Phone: 91 11 2301 5321

Your Excellency:

The Committee of Concerned Scientists is an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues all over the world.

We are writing to express our serious concern for Safoora Zargar, a 27-year-old Ph.D. student who was arrested for her participation in protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that took place in Delhi in February. The CAA, passed in December 2019, is believed by its many opponents to put Muslims at risk of being reduced to second class citizens.

Initially arrested on April 10 and charged with minor offenses related to the protest – obstructing a street and blocking traffic – she was released, but then re-arrested and charged under the broad Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Now, she is being blamed for riots that occurred after the protests in which she was involved – riots that appear to have been largely instigated by supporters of the CAA; most of the 53 people killed in those riots were Muslims.

Despite the fact that she was pregnant at the time of her arrest, and suffering from Polycystic Ovarian Disease, she remained locked up in extremely dangerous conditions at Tihar jail before finally being released on bail on June 23.

On June 26, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called for the immediate release of Safoora Zargar and other protest leaders, observing that they are human rights defenders and “appear to have been arrested simply because they exercised their right to denounce and protest against the CAA.”

As a global organization that supports the human rights of scholars, we are appalled at the treatment of Safoora Zargar and, though grateful that she has been released, we urge you to see to it that the unwarranted charges against her under the UAPA are dropped. We further urge your government to end this criminalizing of legitimate, peaceful dissent. Freedom of expression and association are basic and fundamental human rights that your government, as a State Party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), is obligated to protect.

We call on you to respect the words of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, and equally, to respect the rights of scholars like Safoora Zargar to engage in peaceful human rights work without intimidation or judicial interference.

We thank you for your attention to this important matter, and look forward to receiving your response.

Sincerely,
Joel L. Lebowitz, Paul H. Plotz, Walter Reich, Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Alexander Greer
Co-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists

cc.:
H.E. Taranjit Singh Sandhu
Ambassador
Embassy of India
2107 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008
Phone: 202-939-7000/Fax: 202-265-4351

Kenneth Juster
US Ambassador to India
U.S. Embassy – New Delhi
Shantipath, Chanakyapuri
New Delhi 110021
Phone: 011 91 11 2419 0017

Filed Under: CCS Board, CCS Cases, India Tagged With: Delhi, India, Safoora Zargar, Zargar

Who We Are

Co-chairs

Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University

Paul H. Plotz, M.D., Washington, DC

Walter Reich, George Washington University

Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College

Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College

Vice-chairs

Astronomy – Arno Penzias, New Enterprises Associates*

Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University

Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.

Computer Science – Rachelle Heller, The George Washington University

Computer Science – Jack Minker, University of Maryland, College Park

Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering

Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University

Medical Sciences – J. Joseph Blum, Duke University

Honorary Board Members

Nancy Andrews, Duke University

David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*

Alan J. Bard, University of Texas

Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook

Raoul Bott (deceased), Harvard University

Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley

Stanley Deser, Brandeis University

Edward Gerjuoy, University of Pittsburg

David Gross, (2004 Nobel Prize in Physics), Kavil Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara*

Pierre Hohenberg (deceased), New York University

Walter Kohn (deceased), University of California, Santa Barbara*

James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara

Peter Lax, New York University

Louis Nirenberg, New York University

Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*

Honorary Board Members

John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*

Stuart Rice, University of Chicago

Sir Richard J. Roberts, (1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology & Medicine), New England Biolabs*

Myriam Sarachick, City College of New York

Harold Scheraga, Cornell University

Sylvan Schweber (deceased), Brandeis University

Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University

Steven Weinberg, University of Texas, Austin*

Myrna Weissman, Columbia University

Rosalyn S. Yalow (deceased), Mount Sinai School of Medicine*

* Nobel laureate

Search Site

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Search in posts
Search in pages
Filter by Categories
Additional Information
Angola
Annual Reports
Australia
Bahrain
Belarus
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Cameroon
CCS Board
CCS Cases
Chile
China
Colombia
Cuba
Egypt
Ethiopia
France
Germany
Good News
Greece
Highlights
History
Human Rights Resources
India
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Italy
Malaysia
Morocco
North America Issues
Pakistan
Pakistan
Palestinian Territories
Peru
Petitions
Poland
Press
Previous Highlights
Prominent Cases
Related Articles
Reports
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Spain
Sudan
Swaziland
Syria
Thailand
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United Nations
United States
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Vietnam

View Results in New Window...

Browse by Country

Archives

Join Us

Become a member of our humanitarian enterprise.

Sign up

Support CCS

Remember to register with AmazonSmiles as a donor to the Committee of Concerned Scientists. Then anytime you shop there CCS will receive a donation from Amazon. Since people spend a lot during this time of year it can benefit CCS greatly if you remember to do this. There is no additional cost to you.

FURTHER DIRECTIONS

Translate This Page

Click on the flags or use the menu below for a translation of this page.

[google-translator]

Press Enter to Search

Like us on Facebook

Committee of Concerned Scientists

c/o Alexandra R. Bender, Executive Director
P.O. Box 4525
Easton, PA 18043
Phone: (570) 994-2093
abender@concernedscientists.org

Copyright © 2023 • Concerned Sci Child Theme on Genesis Framework • WordPress • Log in