Former judges, bureaucrats defend Modi govt in open letter

A war over letters has broken out between the BJP’s supporters and detractors. After a series of open letters against PM Modi against the politics of hate, a group of 197 individuals including eight retired judges, 97 retired bureaucrats and 92 retired armed forces officers have written an open letter to the prime minister, saying that the letters earlier were backed by sincere anti-Modi motivations.

The group, calling themselves 'Concerned Citizens' said that they believe that the earlier open letter to Modi by the ‘Constitutional Conduct Group’, another group of former judges and bureaucrats, on the "politics of hate" was a political and anti-Modi government exercise taken by them periodically to shape public opinion against the ruling dispensation.

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“It is a repeated effort to draw attention to themselves as citizens with a higher sense of social purpose, whereas the reality is that this is a manifest political anti-Modi Government exercise which this group undertakes periodically in the belief that they can shape public opinion against the ruling dispensation,” the statement read. “This is a way for them to release their frustration that public opinion remains solidly behind Prime Minister Modi as recent state elections have shown.”

In the letter, the signatories accused the Constitutional Conduct Group of maintaining a studied silence on atrocities in West Bengal and said that, in reality, instances of major communal violence have decreased under BJP governments.

“The same attitude shapes their reactions (or rather the lack of any reaction) to the multiple violent incidents in various states ruled by different political parties (premeditated attacks on peaceful processions during Ram Navami, Hanuman Jayanti, and other sacred festivals in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and New Delhi), and targeted violation of human rights adversely affecting the livelihoods of the poor irrespective of their religion. Such studied omissions expose their attachment to “constitutional conduct”,” the letter reads.

The group also said that those with vested interests within the country want to keep the narrative alive of minority persecution, majoritarianism and Hindu nationalism under the present government.

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