Prominent Retired Officials Sign Open Letter to Modi, Urging Action Against Rising Persecution of Muslims.
(Judicial Quest News Network)
A group of distinguished retired civil servants, diplomats, and public figures has penned an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging urgent attention to the escalating communal tensions and the growing insecurity faced by minority communities, particularly Muslims, in India. The letter highlights how incidents over the last decade have exacerbated interfaith discord, with a noticeable shift in the state-sponsored discrimination and violence against Muslims.
“It is not that inter communal relations have always been good. The gory memories of partition, the circumstances leading to it and the tragic riots in its aftermath remain embedded in our minds. We are also aware that even after partition our country has periodically been rocked by gruesome communal riots and the situation now is no better or no worse than what it was earlier.
Among the 17 signatories are Najeeb Jung, former Lieutenant Governor of Delhi; S.Y. Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner; N.C. Saxena, former Planning Commission Secretary; and Lieutenant General Zameer Uddin Shah, retired Deputy Chief of Army Staff. They express alarm over the deterioration of Hindu-Muslim relations, noting that while communal strife is a recurring issue in India’s history, the last ten years, since the Narendra Modi government came to power, have seen an unprecedented rise in violence and discrimination.
“However, the incidents of the last ten years are markedly different in as much as they show the clearly partisan role of many of the state governments concerned and their administrative machinery. This, we believe, is unprecedented. What started as incidents of bullying or beating up Muslim youth on charges of carrying beef, grew into lynchings of innocent people within their homes, followed by Islamophobic hate speeches with clearly genocidal intent. In the recent past there have been calls for boycotting Muslim business establishments and eateries, non-renting of premises to Muslims, and unrestrained bulldozing of Muslim homes at the behest of Chief Ministers themselves led by a ruthless local administration. As reported in the press, about 154,000 establishments have been hit and lacs rendered homeless or bereft of their place of business. Most of these belong to Muslims.”
The letter specifically points to the role of certain state governments and their apparatus in fostering or tolerating anti-Muslim acts, drawing parallels with the partition era. It highlights disturbing incidents, including the public lynching of individuals accused of carrying beef, hate speech, destruction of Muslim homes by local authorities, and attacks on Muslim-owned businesses. The signatories also raise concerns over attempts to rewrite India’s pluralistic history, citing controversial archaeological surveys and attacks on historic Muslim sites, such as the Sufi shrine of Ajmer Sharif.
“It appears unimaginable, for example, that a local court should order a survey on the 12th century dargah of the Sufi Saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti – one of the most sacred Sufi sites in Asia not just for Muslims but for all Indians who are proud of our syncretic and pluralist traditions The very thought that a mendicant Saint, a fakir who was an integral part of the Sufi/ Bhakti movement unique to the Indian sub-continent, and a paragon of compassion, tolerance and harmony could have destroyed any temple to assert his authority, is ridiculous. In fact, successive Prime Ministers, including yourself, have sent ‘chadars’ on the occasion of the annual Urs of the Saint as a homage to his message of peace and harmony. An ideological assault on this uniquely syncretic site is an assault on our civilizational heritage and perverts the very idea of an inclusive India that you yourself seek to reinvigorate.”
In a call to action, the letter urges Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take a strong stance against divisive forces and ensure that all state administrations uphold the rule of law and respect constitutional values. It concludes with a call for an interface meeting under the Prime Minister’s leadership, emphasizing that India’s progress and its secular, pluralistic identity cannot thrive amid such divisiveness.
Following is the list of Signatories.
1: N. C. Saxena: IAS (Retd.): former Secretary, Planning Commission of India
2: Najeeb Jung: IAS (Retd.): former Lt. Governor, Delhi
3: Shiv Mukherjee, IFS (Retd.): Former High Commissioner of India to UK
4: Amitabha Pande: IAS (Retd.): former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GOI
5: S.Y. Quraishi: IAS (Retd.): former Chief Election Commissioner of India
6: Navrekha Sharma: IFS (Retd.): former Ambassador of India to Indonesia
7: Madhu Bhaduri: IFS (Retd.): former Ambassador to Portugal
8: Lt. General Zameeruddin Shah (Retd.): former Vice Chief of the Army Staff
9: Ravi Vira Gupta: IAS (Retd.): Former Dy. Governor, Reserve Bank of India
10: Raju Sharma: IAS (Retd.): former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh
11: Saeed Shervani: Entrepreneur/Philanthropist
12: Avay Shukla: IAS (Retd.): former Addl. Chief Secy, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh
13: Shahid Siddiqui : former editor, Nai Duniya
14: Subodh Lal: IPoS (Resigned): former Dy. Director General, Ministry of Communications, GOI
15: Suresh K. Goel: IFS (Retd.): former DG, ICCR
16: Aditi Mehta: IAS (Retd.): former Addl. Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan
17: Ashok Sharma: IFS (Retd.): former Ambassador to Finland & Estonia
