“What We Do Domestically, Not What We Say Internationally”: India Regarding Pro-Palestinian Demonstrations at US Universities
In the midst of pro-Palestinian demonstrations at American colleges that have resulted in widespread violence and arrests, India emphasized on Thursday the need to strike a balance between freedom of speech and public safety. “We are all judged by what we do at home and not by what we say abroad,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said during a weekly media conference.
This coincides with the fact that demonstrations broke out on US campuses this week, with over 100 individuals being detained on Wednesday at two colleges in Texas and California.We have been keeping an eye on connected occurrences and have seen news on the subject. During a news conference, Jaiswal said, “There needs to be the proper balance in any democracy between freedom of speech, feeling of duty, and public safety and order.
Democracies in particular need to show this awareness to other democratic nations. We are all assessed by our actions and words inside our own country, he said. Authorities said that there were protests at the University of Texas (UT) in Austin and the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, where 93 individuals were detained for trespassing.
These heated standoffs were among the most recent on-campus conflicts between students brandishing banners and members of the law enforcement community, including police in riot gear, who were incensed by the growing number of people lost in Israel’s fight against the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas. Around midnight, USC announced on the social media platform X that the protest was over and the campus would be “closed until further notice.”
According to the institution, “students, faculty, staff, and people with business on campus may enter with proper identification.” When demonstrators refused to leave the campus on Wednesday afternoon, Los Angeles police officers went there and, according to Captain Kelly Muniz, “assisted the university in effecting trespass arrests.” No injuries have been reported, according to the LAPD, and patrols will continue in the area on Thursday.
The origins of the increasingly widespread pro-Palestinian demonstrations may be traced back to Columbia University in New York, where dozens of arrests were made last week in response to a protest encampment that some Jewish students said was menacing and anti-Semitic. Protesters, who included some Jewish students, have denied any anti-Semitic incidents and denounced those who link anti-Semitism to hostility toward Israel.
Universities have reaffirmed their rights to free speech and peaceful protest this week as protestors have set up camp on school quads, taken over academic facilities, and interfered with events on campus. But pro-Israel advocates and others concerned about campus security have also brought up anti-Semitic events, claiming that universities are promoting hate speech and intimidation.
