Anti govt,not anti national, stop hyper nationalism: 65 former bureaucrats tell Modi in open letter

On the ban of slaughterhouses, the letter states that it targets the minorities and affects their livelihoods as well.

A group of 65 former bureaucrats have torn into the Modi government and questioned the rhetoric raised on issues such as nationalism. In an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi the former bureaucrats have questioned the '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.

"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."

On the ban of slaughterhouses, the letter states that it 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

The behaviour of vigilantes, who act as prosecutor, judge and executioner rolled into one, flies in the face of law and jurisprudence, the letter further states.

OneIndia News