New Delhi: A day after the Students’ Council of Pondicherry University announced the boycott of the convocation that is slated to be held on December 23 in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, Karthika, a gold medalist student said she will not attend the event as it will be presided over by President Ram Nath Govind.
"It is my personal decision to boycott the convocation. I’m not influenced by any political party. I felt that this is the only way to show my opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act. I am against both CAA and NRC. I can’t go and collect it from the President of India as he was the one who signed the Bill and now it became an Act. I can’t get the medal and my degree certificate from him,” Karthika, a gold medalist in the Master's course on Electronic Mediaa, told News18.
She also urged gold medalists from other departments to boycott the convocation.
“I wish other students and gold medalists also boycotted the event. This is the only way we can convey our message that the youth are against the Act. I know this my lifetime opportunity and I’m rejecting it. If the President was not the chief guest, I surely would have collected my award. My conscience is not allowing me to get the award from the person who gave his nod for CAB,” she said.
When asked about her opposition to the Act she said, “I am a Hindu and not a Muslim. The Act personally won’t affect me. But the Act discriminates people on the basis of religion, race and clothes. What if one of my good friends is sent back if the NRC is implemented?”
Meanwhile, the Students’ Council said that the decision to boycott the event was taken to express solidarity with students facing ‘state repression’ in the ongoing protests against the CAA and NRC. On December 16, students from Pondicherry University staged a protest inside the campus condemning police brutality against students of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University.
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