Here is the complete text of the letter: ToShri Ramnath Kovind President of IndiaShri Narendra Modi Prime Minister of India Copy toChief Justice of IndiaSpeaker of the Rajya SabhaSpeaker of the Lok SabhaShri Amit Shah, Minister of Home AffairsPresidents 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 inParliament and State Assemblies.NSA – National Security AdvisorCDS – Chief of the Defence StaffChiefs of the Army, Navy and Airforce OPEN STATEMENT ON NATIONAL SECURITY AND INCITEMENT TO VIOLENCE Dear Mr President, and Mr Prime Minister,We, the undersigned are writing to you about recent events in Haridwar and Delhi, openly calling for a genocide of Indian Muslims, and additionally, targeting other minorities – Christians, Dalits and Sikhs.We are deeply perturbed by the content of speeches made during a 3 day religious conclave called a Dharma Sansad, of Hindu Sadhus and other leaders held at Haridwar between 17-19 December 2021. There were repeated calls for establishing a Hindu Rashtra and, if required, picking up weapons and killing of India’s Muslims in the name of protecting Hinduism.At about the same time, a large number of persons gathered in Delhi and publicly took an oath resolving to make India a Hindu nation, by fighting and killing if necessary.Regardless of which persons or parties initiated calls for such genocide, Government of India and the Judiciary at the highest level, need to take urgent action. We cannot allow such incitement to violence together with public expressions of hate – which not only constitute serious breaches of internal security, but which could also tear apart the social fabric of our nation. One speaker made a call to the army and police to pick up weapons and participate in the cleanliness drive (safai abhiyan). This amounts to asking the army to participate in genocide of our own citizens and is condemnable and unacceptable.India’s Armed Forces, the Army, Navy & Air Force, together with CAPFs and Police, are responsible for National Security – external and internal, respectively. All of the above have sworn to uphold India’s Constitution and our secular values, and it is critical that these forces remain committed to the security of all citizens.In view of the current situation on our borders, any breach of peace and harmony within the Nation will embolden inimical external forces. The unity and cohesiveness of our men and women in uniform, including the CAPFs and Police Forces, will be seriously affected by allowing such blatant calls for violence against one or the other community in our diverse and plural society.We therefore call upon the Government, Parliament and the Supreme Court, to act with urgency to protect the integrity, peace. amity and security within our country. The Constitution provides for the free practice of religion across faiths. We strongly deplore such polarisation in the name of religion. We urge you Mr President and Mr Prime Minister to take immediate steps to curb such attempts and urge you to condemn such incitement to violence in no uncertain terms.We also take this opportunity to urge leaders of all political parties to condemn these calls for what is tantamount to genocide of Muslims. They must restrain their own cadres and thereby set examples of their commitment to Secularism, Fraternity and Justice for all.It is in the National Interest that all parties should refrain from using religion in politics and pledge to uphold our Constitution and the wellbeing of our people – thus ensuring both National and Human Security for all.Signatories:1. Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas (Retd), PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM.2. Anuradha Bhasin Executive Editor, Kashmir Times3. Ali Ahmed, Strategic affairs commentator4. Prof Ujjwal K Chowdhury, Secretary, Global Media Education Council, Former Pro VC, Adamas University and former Dean of Symbiosis and Amity universities. 5. Rimmi VaghelaResearch Scholar, Ahmedabad 6. Amit KumarIndependent ResearcherDelhi Solidarity Group 7. Swarna RajagopalanResearcher and Peace Educator, Chennai 8. Subhash GatadeWriter and ActivistNew Socialist Initiative 9. Prof Ujjwal K ChowdhurySecretary, Global Media Education CouncilFormer Pro VC, Adamas & former Dean, Symbiosis & Amity 10. Geeta SeshuCo-editor, Free Speech Collective 11. Sanjay Barbora, Guwahati 12. C. Rammanohar ReddyEditor, ‘The India Forum’ 13. Ram PuniyaniNational Solidarity Forum14. Shabnam Hashmi, social activist, founder Anhad 15. D. N. RathSecretary, Movement for Secular Democracy, Ahmedabad 16. Sachin Godambe, Advocate17. Ajaz Ashraf, Freelance Journalist18. Asha Achy JosephAcademic and Film maker19. Navaid HamidPresident, All India Muslim Majlis e Mushawarat20. Anand K Sahay, Columnist21. Atul Gurtu(Retd) Professor, TIFR, Mumbai 22. C. Rammanohar ReddyEditor’The India Forum’23. Anand VardhanManaging EditorThePublic.india24. Apar Gupta, AdvocateExecutive Director, Internet Freedom Foundation25. Javed Anand, Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy26. Teesta Setalvad, Citizens for Justice and Peace27. Ghazala WahabExecutive Editor, FORCE magazine and author of Born A Muslim: Some Truths About Islam in India28. Anand Patwardhan, Filmmaker29. Ravi HemadriActivistNew Delhi30. Namita Bhandare, Journalist and writer31. Sheba George, Gujarat32. Badri Raina, Teacher, Columnist, Writer33. Meenakshi Joshi,Convenor, Gujarat State, All India Mahila Sanskrit Sangathan
Source link
