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City Council Condemns Citizenship Amendment Act
By Maria G. Gonzalez Crimson Staff Writer
The Cambridge City Council passed a resolution Monday calling on the Parliament of In dia to repeal the Citizenship Amendment Act and end the National Register of Citizens. The Citizenship Amend ment Act (CAA), which was passed by the Parliament of India in Dec. 2019, provides a pathway to Indian citizenship for Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Par si, and Christian undocumented immigrants, while denying eligibility for Muslim immi grants. The National Register of Citizens (NRC) — which was established in a 2003 amend ment — will institute nationwide checks for documentation of legal citizenship, once fully implemented.
In Aug. 2019, Prime Minister Narendra D. Modi’s far-right Bharatiya Janata Party gov ernment began to use the NRC to force nearly 2 million people in the Indian state of Assam to prove their citizenship or face detention and deportation.
The Citizenship Amend ment Act and the NRC sparked demonstrations from students across India, protests which the Indian government attempt ed to shut down by setting curfews, shutting down internet access, and deploying authori ties to enforce order.
The actions of India’s gov ernment quickly sparked protests across the globe.
In December, Harvard affil iates signed a letter supporting protests against the CAA and condemning the suppression of student protests at Indian uni versities. Harvard affiliates also staged a 24-hour protest against the CAA in January.
The City Council’s resolution — which passed unanimous ly Monday evening — identifies the Modi regime’s “racist” and “repressive” policies as being “inconsistent with Cambridge’s values as a city that welcomes South Asian communities of all castes and religions.”
The resolution calls on the Parliament of India to “uphold the Indian constitution” by re pealing the CAA and ending the NRC.
The Indian government did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. Moreover, the policy order urges Cambridge’s congressio nal delegation “to support legislation censuring the Republic of India for adopting these pol icies.”
Cambridge residents spoke during the public comment sec tion of the council meeting.
Kashif Hoda, a Cambridge resident and Muslim immigrant from India, spoke to the signif icance of promoting love and acceptance in response to the CAA and NRC.
“The discriminatory laws being put in place will make millions of people — not just Muslims — illegal in their own lands, for lack of proper docu mentation, or even minor errors in their documents,” Hoda said. He encouraged city council ors to adopt the resolution in order to communicate that Cambridge “preaches love and acceptance, and rejects hate.”
Multiple residents said that Cambridge has a unique obliga tion to condemn the actions of Indian’s government.
“This city is the home of il lustrious institutions like Harvard and MIT, the upcoming internationally renowned Har vard India Conference, incredible community leaders, and a legacy of innovation,” Cam bridge resident Pile Kumar said. “We have a responsibility to use our platforms and privileg es to speak to these struggles, especially when our resources here in Cambridge are so inti mately tied to them,” she added.
maria.gonzalez@thecrimson.com
At Cambridge City Council’s weekly scheduled meeting, which met in the Sullivan Chamber Monday, Cambridge residents spoke about the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act of India. rYAN N. GAJARAWALA—Crimso photo r pher
Grad Student Union Reaches New Agreements BAR GAININ G From Page 1
“A lot of people are under immense financial stress because of carrying over debt from un dergraduate or elsewhere,” Hollingsworth said.
“Having a pretty modest sti pend in graduate school coupled to the sort of hours that we’re working leaves little time to reflect and to really deal with the rest of the stresses that we have,” he added.
The two sides also agreed to grant union members access to certain biking and parking ben efits in addition to the discounted public transit passes previously offered, according to McCartan.
While the union and the University have made progress in negotiating a first contract, McCartan wrote in the update that the union faces particular ly “serious challenges” in negotiations over workload protections. “We’ve spent months work ing with faculty and administrators on Harvard’s bargaining team to try to set reasonable workload protections for teaching fellows,” McCartan wrote in his email.
“Today, they walked back on all of that. Now they say that all salaried workers, regardless of appointments, should be re quired to work up to 20 hours a week—even if they’re only teaching one section, and only being paid for one section,” he added.
Sociology Ph.D. candidate Zachary R. Wehrwein wrote in an email to The Crimson that he feels the recent agreements are merely “commonplace for the rest of the American work force,” adding that he believes it is “truly pathetic” that Harvard has only just agreed to them.
“Self-satisfied Harvard has never institutionally evolved,” Wehrwein wrote. “When your graduate program has for years assumed that everyone is es sentially a reasonably well-off white male, then protections against harassment or discrim ination or programs like emergency assistance or mandating a minimal vacation are unnec essary.”
University spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain wrote in an emailed statement that the Uni versity looks forward to reaching a final contract with the union in upcoming bargaining sessions.
“Working with the federal mediator and HGSU-UAW, the University remains committed to finding agreement on ways to address concerns raised in these negotiations,” Swain wrote.
callia.chuang@thecrimson.com davit.antonyan@thecrimson.com
OXFOR D From Page 1
Harvard Faculty Call on Oxford to Support Divestment
James M. “Jim” Recht wrote in an email to The Crimson that Parker’s comments suggested that the students were “hypo critical” for demanding “fundamental system change.”
“Sarcasm and self-righteous ness aside, the bursar’s comments reflected ignorance in regard to the scope and urgency of the climate crisis,” Recht wrote. “The required transition away from fossil fuels to sustainable energy requires urgent and un precedented collective action.” In the letter, the faculty members noted that during the debates on divestment at recent Harvard faculty meetings, even the most “diehard opponents” of divestment have avoided the critique of hypocrisy. “[Climate change] is a horrible predica ment to have to face,” the faculty wrote. “But the right way to face it is not to shout ‘hypocrisy!’ while burying our heads in the sand; it is to own up to our own unavoidable complicity, and to act as one in drawing it to a close as quickly as we can.”
Harvard Faculty for Divest
Harvard Faculty Letter to Oxford
ment successfully pushed for a resolution that overwhelming ly passed in last week’s faculty meeting calling on the Harvard Corporation to divest the Uni versity’s endowment.
In the letter, the Harvard fac ulty also criticized a Feb. 2 Wall Street Journal editorial that supported Parker’s comments about the protest, noting that they were “a worthy lesson ap plicable far beyond the colleges of Oxford.”
“When most people think of Oxford, what comes to mind are images of bright minds de bating quantum physics or the existence of God,” the editori al reads. “But even the brainiest sometimes need a lesson in com mon sense.” The Harvard faculty wrote that it was “heinous” for the Journal to publish the editorial.
“It is a shame that the Wall Street Journal exhibits such short-term thinking,” their let ter reads.
The Wall Street Journal did not immediately respond to a re quest for comment.
michelle.kurilla@thecrimson.com james.bikales@thecrimson.com
Nelson From Page 1
Nelson Named Corporation Fellow
Administration, and Management.
In addition to serving on the Board, Nelson co-chaired the Board, Nelson co-chaired cochaired a Faculty of Arts and Sciences task force on the un dergraduate experience, and served the Radcliffe Institute’s Dean’s Advisory Council. Since 1994, she has led her class re unions every five years.
William F. Lee, the senior fellow of the Corporation, wrote in a press release that Nelson has been a “devoted” Harvard alumna.
“Diana Nelson has been one of her generation’s most devot ed Harvard alumnae,” Lee said in a press release. “She knows the University well, she has a passion for education, and she brings a remarkable breadth of experience in governance roles. We are sure to benefit from her thoughtfulness and insight, and we look forward to welcoming her back to Harvard’s govern ing boards.”
The Harvard Corporation — which is known formally as the President and Fellows of Har vard College — is the oldest corporation in the Western Hemisphere.
The Corporation consists of 13 members that exercise re sponsibility in the University’s academic, financial, and physical resources, and overall well-being.
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