26 civil society members write to president and prime minister about hateful Haridwar assembly

Here is the full text of the letter:

AT

Shri Ramnath Kovind President of India

Shri Narendra Modi Prime Minister of India

To copy

Chief Justice of India

President of the Rajya Sabha

Lok Sabha speaker

Shri Amit Shah, Minister of the Interior

Presidents Bhartiya Janta Party, Congress Party, AITC, BSP, Samajwadi Party, CPI (M), CPI, AAP,

DMK, AIDMK, Akali Dal, YSR Congress, Telgu Desam Party and others with representation in

Parliament and State Assemblies.

NSA – National Security Advisor

CDS – Chief of the Defense Staff

Chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force

OPEN DECLARATION ON NATIONAL SECURITY AND INCENTIVES OF VIOLENCE

Dear Mr. President and Mr. Prime Minister,

We, the undersigned, write to you about recent events in Haridwar and Delhi, openly calling for genocide of Indian Muslims, and further targeting other minorities – Christians, Dalits and Sikhs.

We are deeply disturbed by the content of the speeches given at a 3-day religious conclave called Dharma Sansad, by Hindu Sadhus and other leaders held in Haridwar between December 17-19, 2021. There have been repeated appeals for the establishment of a Hindu Rashtra and, if necessary. , pick up weapons and kill Indian Muslims in the name of protecting Hinduism.

Around the same time, a large number of people gathered in Delhi and publicly took an oath resolved to make India a Hindu nation, fighting and killing if necessary.

Regardless of who or what parties have called for such genocide, the Indian government and the judiciary at the highest level must take urgent action. We cannot tolerate such incitement to violence accompanied by public expressions of hatred – which not only constitute serious attacks on internal security, but which could also tear the social fabric of our nation. One speaker called on the army and police to collect weapons and participate in the cleanliness campaign (safai abhiyan). This amounts to asking the military to participate in the genocide of our own citizens and is reprehensible and unacceptable.

The Indian Armed Forces, Army, Navy, and Air Force, along with CAPF and Police, are responsible for national security – external and internal, respectively. All of the foregoing have sworn to uphold the Indian Constitution and our secular values, and it is essential that these forces remain committed to the safety of all citizens.

In view of the current situation on our borders, any rupture of peace and harmony within the Nation will embolden hostile external forces. The unity and cohesion of our men and women in uniform, including CAPF and police forces, will be gravely affected by allowing such blatant calls for violence against either community in our diverse and plural society. .

We therefore call on the Government, Parliament and the Supreme Court to act urgently to protect integrity, peace. friendship and security in our country. The Constitution provides for the free practice of religion across denominations. We deeply deplore such polarization in the name of religion. We urge you, Mr. President and Mr. Prime Minister, to take immediate action to suppress such attempts and urge you to unequivocally condemn this incitement to violence.

We also take this opportunity to urge the leaders of all political parties to condemn these calls to what amounts to genocide of Muslims. They must restrict their own frameworks and thus show the example of their commitment to secularism, fraternity and justice for all.

It is in the national interest that all parties refrain from using religion in politics and commit to upholding our Constitution and the well-being of our people, thereby ensuring national and human security for all.

Signatories:

1. Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas (retired), PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM.

2. Anuradha Bhasin Editor-in-Chief, Kashmir Times

3. Ali Ahmed, strategic affairs commentator

4. Prof Ujjwal K Chowdhury, Secretary, Global Media Education Council, Former Pro VC, Adamas University and Former Dean of Symbiosis and Amity Universities.

5. Rimmi Vaghela

Researcher, Ahmedabad

6. Amit Kumar

independent researcher

Delhi Solidarity Group

7. Swarna Rajagopalan

Peace researcher and educator, Chennai

8. Subhash Gatade

Writer and activist

New socialist initiative

9. Professor Ujjwal K Chowdhury

Secretary, World Council for Media Literacy

Former Pro VC, Adamas and former Dean, Symbiosis & Amity

10. Geeta Seshu

Co-editor, Free Speech Collective

11. Sanjay Barbora, Guwahati

12. C. Rammanohar Reddy

Editor-in-Chief, “The India Forum”

13. Ram Puniyani

National Solidarity Forum

14. Shabnam Hashmi, social activist, founder Anhad

15. DN Rath

Secretary, Secular Democracy Movement, Ahmedabad

16. Sachin Godambe, lawyer

17. Ajaz Ashraf, freelance journalist

18. Asha Achy Joseph

Academic and filmmaker

19. Hamid navigation aid

President, All India Muslim Majlis e Mushaharat

20. Anand K Sahay, columnist

21. Atul Gurtu

(Retired) Professor, TIFR, Mumbai

22. C. Rammanohar Reddy

Editor

“The India Forum”

23. Anand Vardhan

Editor-in-chief

ThePublic.inde

24. Apar Gupta, lawyer

Executive Director, Internet Freedom Foundation

25. Javed Anand, Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy

26. Teesta Setalvad, Citizens for Justice and Peace

27. Ghazala Wahab

Editor-in-chief of FORCE magazine and author of Born A Muslim: Some Truths About Islam in India

28. Anand Patwardhan, filmmaker

29. Ravi Hemadri

Activist

New Delhi

30. Namita Bhandare, journalist and writer

31. Sheba George, Gujarat

32. Badri Raina, teacher, columnist, writer

33. Meenakshi Joshi,

Coordinator, State of Gujarat, India Mahila Sanskrit Sangathan