STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY

The dispiriting and intimidating events which have transpired at Hidayatullah National Law University (HNLU),
Raipur over the past few days are exasperating not only for the student community of HNLU but also for the
legal fraternity across all the National Law Universities (NLUs).

We empathize with the students of HNLU and their struggle against the capricious actions of their
administration. It is agonizing to witness the whimsical actions of the administration in imposing unreasonable
campus and library curfews, the absolute absence of transparency and accountability and the illegitimate
extension of the Vice Chancellor’s tenure, the illegality of which has been affirmed by the Hon’ble High Court
of Chhattisgarh.  While students, in pursuance of their academic integrity, have decided to resume their classes
after meeting the newly appointed interim VC, their protestation has not been met with any concrete assurances
as a result of which the protestation continues with polite disobedience of the curfews and active
demonstrations.

We also wish to take this opportunity to extend our solidarity to the students of all the other NLUs who are
confronting similar arbitrary administrative issues in terms of their academic regulations. The demands raised by
the students of HNLU pertain to common administrative problems tormenting the NLUs at large. Till date,
student bodies of almost ten NLUs have come down in protests against their respective administrations.

Given these set of events, the student bodies of NLSIU, NALSAR and NUJS would like to recall and
emphasize their previously released statement calling for the nationalisation and grant of Institutes of National
Importance (INI) status to NLUs. This would ensure a centralization of administration and accountable systems
across all the law schools in India, leading to uniform administrative regulations, academic standards and
centralized funding. We implore for the same, yet again.

We also reiterate the founding idea of National Law Universities which were created as ‘islands of legal
excellence’ to build a generation of ‘social engineers’. However, in the absence of efficient administration
coupled with a lack of systematic accountability forces, students in most of the NLUs are burdened with the
responsibility to initiate basic reforms and maintain constant vigil over administrative decisions. This fight for
minimum standards and a right to decent education leaves the students too drained and disillusioned to be of
any use to the society.

Therefore, we the students of NALSAR, NLSIU, NUJS, NLUD, NLUJ and NLIU stand in complete solidarity
with our counterparts at HNLU and wholeheartedly support the courageous stand taken by them. We respect
their sincere and valiant efforts to stand up against the arbitrary and regressive behaviour of their
administrations.

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