Retired civil servants in India expose intolerance in open letter

As many as 65 senior retired officials from different Central Services of India have exposed the true face of Indian extremism through an open letter written to the Government of India in which they have raised alarm over the growing intolerance, extremism and state high-handedness. The officials include retired chief secretaries and ambassadors. 

In this letter, these officials have pointed towards the sense of deep disquiet that has prompted them to write this open letter as to what has been happening in India. They have urged all public authorities and constitutional bodies to take stock of the situation. 

Continuing with their concern, the officials say: “It appears as if there is a growing climate of religious intolerance that is aimed primarily at Muslims. It is indeed quite an alarming situation that vigilantism has become widespread. To quote an example, one named Akhlaq was lynched merely on the basis of a suspicion that the meat he had in his possession was beef whereas Pehlu Khan was lynched while transporting two cows to his place that he had bought lawfully and for which he had the necessary papers”. 

Dwelling upon the same shade of extremism, the open letter says that Gau-rakshaks (protectors of cows) function with impunity and seem to be doing so with the tacit complicity or active encouragement of state machinery.

And to aggravate the things, punitive action is not taken promptly against perpetrators of the violence “but cruelly, the victims have FIRs registered against them”. 

The letter also exposes the tall claim of tolerance and democratic attitudes as it goes on to say: “Students’ groups and faculty members, who raise ‘troubling’ questions about equality, social justice and freedom, are subjected to attack by the administration with a supportive government to back them. Not only that, disagreement and dissent are considered seditious and anti-national. And we are also seeing an ugly trend of threats and online intimidation of activists, journalists, writers and intellectuals who disagree with the dominant ideology.

“This intolerance is disgusting and more depressing is growing hyper-nationalism. The trend now is that if you are not with the government, you are anti-national.” In the end, the open letter appeals to all public authorities, public institutions and constitutional bodies to take heed of these disturbing trends and take corrective action.