A group of 65 former bureaucrats has written an open letter to PM Narendra Modi over what they termed as ‘growing hyper-nationalism that reduces any critique to a binary that if you are not with the government, you are anti-national’.
The signatories include former Union culture secretary Jawahar Sircar, former information and broadcasting secretary Bhaskar Ghose, former chief information commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, former Mumbai police chief Julio Rebeiro, former bureaucrat-turned-activists Aruna Roy and Harsh Mander, former Indian Foreign service officer Deb Mukharji, and former Gujarat cadre IPS officer Rahul Sharma, among others.
The letter says: “In Uttar Pradesh, in the run-up to the elections, an odious and frankly communal comparison was made between the relative number of burial grounds and cremation grounds. The question was also asked as to whether electricity was being supplied equally to different communities during their religious festivals. All this without any basis in fact or evidence.”
The letter further said the banning of slaughterhouses targets the minorities and affects their livelihoods as well. The former bureaucrats appealed to public authorities and constitutional bodies to take heed of these disturbing trends and take corrective action to reclaim and defend the spirit of the Constitution, as envisaged by the founding fathers.
The letter said the behaviour of vigilantes, who act as prosecutor, judge and executioner rolled into one, flies in the face of law and jurisprudence.
{{/usCountry}}The letter said the behaviour of vigilantes, who act as prosecutor, judge and executioner rolled into one, flies in the face of law and jurisprudence.
{{/usCountry}}“I am not affiliated with any political party. We have just shown a ‘yellow card’ to the government telling it what is happening in the country at the moment is not done,” Sircar, former Prasar Bharti CEO, told HT.
“A draft was circulated a few days back and everyone felt there was a need to write such a letter. As far as the future course is concerned, each of us would decide upon it individually,” he said.