FIR against 49 celebs: Tharoor writes to PM, says don’t let ‘mann ki baat’ turn into ‘maun ki baat’

New Delhi, Oct 08: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing dissent over FIR filed against nearly 49 celebrities for their open letter over rampant incidents of mob violence.

In a two-page letter, Tharoor posted the letter on his Twitter and urged PM Modi to take a public stand welcoming dissent and assure the country of his commitment to upholding freedom of expression even when it involves disagreement with him or his government.

He wrote,'' Urging all those who believe in #FreedomOfExpression to send this or similar letters to @PMOIndia @narendramodi urging him to affirm the constitutional principle of our Article 19 rights & the value of democratic dissent - even if more FIRs follow as a result!''

"We would like to believe that you too would support right to freedom of expression so that 'mann ki baat' of the well-meaning citizens of India does not turn into maun ki baat," he said.

Last week, an FIR was filed in Bihar's Muzaffarpur against personalities, including directors Aparna Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and writer-columnist Ramchandra Guha for alleged sedition over a letter they wrote to the PM in July, voicing concern over growing incidents of mob lynching.

The 49 personalities, including filmmakers Mani Ratnam, Anurag Kashyap, Shyam Benegal, actor Soumitra Chatterjee and vocalist Shubha Mudgal, were accused of having "tarnished the image of the country and undermined the impressive performance of the prime minister", besides "supporting secessionist tendencies".