New Delhi, Jul 23 The Bar Council of India (BCI) on Thursday appealed to the country's legal fraternity and intellectuals to help safeguard the nation, alleging that anti-national forces and foreign adversaries had infiltrated the ongoing student protests and were attempting to destabilise India.
In a press release, BCI Chairman and senior advocate Manan Kumar Mishra urged lawyers, teachers, professors, doctors, engineers, journalists, entrepreneurs, scientists and other professionals to engage with students and steer them away from violence and misinformation.
"These disruptive forces appear unable to reconcile themselves with India's economic progress, expanding global stature and development. It appears that a few politicians, particularly one or two individuals with foreign loyalties, in whose veins foreign blood is flowing, are cunningly instigating and provoking younger generations to foment lawlessness," the release said.
The BCI chief further claimed that "experts in stone pelting" had been brought from Jammu and Kashmir and other states to Delhi and other cities to attack police personnel and damage public property.
He also alleged that coordinated social media campaigns were being run from countries including Pakistan, China and Bangladesh to mislead the youth.
"Their sole motive is to create lawlessness, destabilise India, and seize power, and they have pursued this aim for a long time. They want our country also to be ruined like Bangladesh and Nepal," he said.
Mishra said intellectuals and professionals had a duty to distinguish between genuine democratic dissent and organised violence and should educate students about constitutional values, peaceful protest and responsible use of digital platforms.
He urged teachers and professors to engage directly with students and guide them towards lawful and constructive forms of expression, while asking journalists and other professionals to verify facts before sharing information and discourage rumours and calls for violence.
"Historically, intellectually sound classes have acted as spokespersons for the helpless and have played a role in defending the nation against foreign conspiracies and attacks," he said.
The BCI also called upon professional bodies, educational institutions, hospitals, research organisations, industry associations and civil society groups to organise awareness programmes on constitutional values, digital responsibility and the consequences of violence.
Stating that the nation must come before politics, Mishra appealed to lawyers, student leaders, political parties and law enforcement agencies to work together to restore peace, maintain public order and persuade students to stay away from violence while pursuing lawful means of protest.
