Costa Rica to New Delhi: Forging Solidarity for Equitable Access to Knowledge

We are witnessing a surge in student mobilizations across the world, from Latin America to the USA occupy movements to the UK protest to students in the Middle East, Africa and Asia (most recently the tremendous upheaval led by students in Bangladesh), on a variety of issues. But somewhere a shared thread of anxiety and subject location is visible. It is the need of the hour to build solidarity across borders and better understand and act upon our collective dilemmas as people who will be building (willingly or unwillingly) the world of tomorrow.

Find below the text of a Solidarity Letter to ASEAK, supporting academics and photocopying shops from the 'PHOTOCOPYING FOR STUDYING PURPOSES MOVEMENT' in Costa Rica. Students in Costa Rica have been successful at resisting attempts of corporate publishers similar to what we are experiencing in India now. In their letter they urge the Courts to not be pressurized by the private publishers. Please have a look and share. 

- Association of Students for Equitable Access to Knowledge (ASEAK)

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FOTOCOPIANDO PARA ESTUDIAR

(PHOTOCOPYING FOR STUDYING PURPOSES MOVEMENT)

Costa Rica, Sunday, March 31, 2013

In support and solidarity with the students, academics and photocopying shops in India, who are fighting in defense of access to education, work and culture.

The right to work, to access and dissemination of information, culture and education are inherited and inviolable rights that equally belong to every person and culture of the world, therefore it is a humanity’s heritage.

Under no circumstances, one can allow that private firms as publishers take ownership of the information and knowledge itself and decide who can and who cannot have access to it, because both education and culture belong to everyone equally.

From Costa Rica, we want to encourage you to continue this important fight in courts,. Please receive all the support and solidarity on behalf of the students and photocopying shops that are part of the Photocopying for Studying Purposes Movement. 

Four years ago, we experienced something similar to what you are now experiencing, Ever since then, we have been promoting a law to allow students to photocopy books. Even though, we got the Parliament’s approval for that law, the President of Costa Rica Laura Chinchilla was influenced by publishers and the American Chamber of Commerce (AmChan), and she rejected it. But, we will not stop until we achieve our goal.

We urge the courts of India, not to be pressured by publishers, the only thing these companies want to do is to privatize education and culture, and be the only ones entitled to decide who can access information, reducing that possibility just to those who have the money to pay for it. 

Fellow Students of the Association of Students for Equitable Access to Knowledge (ASEAK), We support you.

Joshua Aguirre Thomas

FOTOCOPIANDO PARA ESTUDIAR

(PHOTOCOPYING FOR STUDYING PURPOSES MOVEMENT)

"People who do not defend their ownings, end up as tenants in their own Country" (Juan Rafael Mora Porras, President and General of the Costa Rican Army from 1814 to 1860)

A "Fotocopiando Para Estudiar" led protest in Costa Rica

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ASSOCIATION OF STUDENTS FOR EQUITABLE ACCESS TO KNOWLEDGE (ASEAK)

New Delhi (India), Monday, 1st April, 2013

We greatly appreciate your show of solidarity with us here in India. ASEAK is committed to taking up this particular battle in Court, and other issues of access to knowledge in our Universities in general. The Public University system in India is under immense stress and is being subjected to what are called "reforms in higher education". Please do read "The Delhi University Four Year Structure – Myths and Reality" for more on the same. Delhi University, being the largest Central University in India, has become in a way the laboratory for such reforms. It is no surprise then that this copyright row began here. Making all aspects of education a commodity and gearing up our public institutions to the sole task of providing 'marketable skills', with utter disregard for what the students or teachers may have to say, seems to be the way forward envisaged for us by the high and mighty of today.

At the same time we are witnessing a surge in student mobilizations across the world, from Latin America to the USA occupy movements to the UK protests, to students in the Middle East & Africa participating in huge numbers in what is referred to as the 'Arab Spring' and Asia (the massive participation of students and youth against the 'rape culture' in India and most recently the tremendous upheaval led by students in Bangladesh), on a variety of issues. But somewhere a shared thread of anxiety and subject location is visible. It is the need of the hour to build solidarity across borders and better understand and act upon our collective dilemmas as people who will be building (willingly or unwillingly) the world of tomorrow.

We take this opportunity to congratulate you on the success you have had in defending and asserting students' right to educational material and its reproduction, and to extend solidarity with you. We are open to and encourage dialogue and joint action whenever possible.

Association of Students for Equitable Access to Knowledge (ASEAK)

An "ASEAK" led protest in Delhi University, India

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Sources: Facebook pages of Association of Students for equitable Access to Knowledge (ASEAK) and Fotocopiando Para Estudiar