NALSAR Law Student Allegedly Being Hounded For Pro-CAA Statement By Varsity’s ‘Liberal’ Students And Teachers

A law student at National Academy of Legal Studies And Research (NALSAR) is allegedly being hounded by ‘liberal’ students and teachers of the university for speaking in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Shubham Tiwari, a law student at NALSAR, has been facing harassment and intimidation over his personal opinion regarding the CAA. He is allegedly being subjected to mental trauma.

The harassment began after Tiwari issued a statement in favour of CAA along with 1,000 other students of various law universities and IITs.

In the statement, Tiwari said that the CAA is a narrow-tailored law which makes reasonable classification amongst illegal immigrants on the basis of religious persecution in neighbouring theocratic states.

"In light of the events that have transpired across the country since the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was tabled for discussion and deliberation in the Parliament, we believe that in the name of opposing the law, an environment of lawlessness and chaos is being created threatening the law and order of the country," Tiwari said in the statement.

He added that numerous instances of forced conversion, abduction, rape, and killings of minorities were happening in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. He argued that hence such minorities require humanitarian support which this Act provides for.

However, after issuing the statement, the law student has been harassment and intimidation for his Pro-CAA views.

“As a student of NALSAR, I think I am entitled to have an opinion which I expressed in legal terms when approached by the media institution,” Tiwari said in a statement.

“CAA has been challenged in the Supreme Court and as students of law we must submit to Court of Law for further decision making. However harassment and intimidating social media reaction on my personal opinion fails the objective of a liberal campus with free speech,” he said.

“I always thought myself to be an integral part of NALSAR community and will continue to do so, but this personal attack on me for expressing my opinion is really intimidating and unfortunate. It's sad to see this,” Tiwari said.