Stop violence in name of religion, eminent citizens tell PM in open letter

Expressing concern at the number of "religious identity-based hate crimes" in India, a group of eminent citizens has said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that 'Jai Shri Ram' has become a provocative war cry with many lynchings taking place in its name.

The July 23 letter, which also stressed that there is "no democracy without dissent", is signed by 49 celebrities from various fields, including filmmakers Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Aparna Sen as well as vocalist Shubha Mudgal, historian Ramchandra Guha and sociologist Ashis Nandy.

"We, as peace loving and proud Indians, are deeply concerned about a number of tragic events that have been happening in recent times in our beloved country," the open letter to Modi said.

"The lynching of Muslims, Dalits and other minorities must be stopped immediately. We were shocked to learn from the NCRB that there have been no less than 840 instances of atrocities against Dalits in the year 2016, and a definite decline in the percentage of convictions," it continued.

Responding to the letter, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told PTI that minorities and Dalits are safe in India and criminal incidents should not be communalised.

The letter also referred to findings of the "FactChecker indatabase" and the"Citizen's Religious Hate-Crime Watch" and said the number of "religious identity-based hate crimes" had gone up in the last nine years; 62 per cent of the victims belonged to the Muslim community.

"About 90 per cent of these attacks were reported after May 2014, when your government assumed power nationally," the signatories told the prime minister.

They said they regretted that "Jai Shri Ram" has been reduced to a "provocative war cry that leads to law and order problems, and many lynchings take place in its name".

It is shocking, they said, that so much violence should be perpetrated in the name of religion.

"These are not the Middle Ages! The name of Ram is sacred to many in the majority community of India. As the highest executive of this country you must put a stop to the name of Ram being defiled in this manner," the letter stated.

Criticising the lynchings in Parliament is not enough, the civil society leaders said.

"What action has actually been taken against the perpetrators? We strongly feel that such offences should be declared non-bailable, and that exemplary punishment should be meted out swiftly and surely."
"There is no democracy without dissent. People should not be branded anti-national or urban Naxal and incarcerated because of dissent against the government."