Mananiya Mukhya Mantriji,
It is with deep disapproval and concern that we, a group of former civil servants, seek to address your government on a matter of overriding importance for the continued unity of our nation. We should like to clarify at the start that we, as a group, have no political affiliation but share a commitment to the idea of India as defined in our Constitution.
Today we wish to share our anguish at the infamous Moradabad incident, and several similar incidents that have occurred at about the same time in your state.In the Moradabad incident, 22-year-old Rashid and his 25-year-old brother, Saleem, were arrested,to be released only two weeks later when Rashid’s wife, Pinki, gave testimony that she had married him willingly, without any compulsion. Rashid and Pinki, who married in July, 2020, well before the promulgation of any ordinance on the issue of interfaith marriage, were on their way to have their marriage registered on December 5 when they were accosted by alleged Bajrang Dal men, who accused Rashid of “love jihad”, and took them to the police. Saleem was with them at the time. While Rashid and Saleem were arrested, Pinki was sent to a shelter home. Pinki repeatedly told the media, the police and the court right then that she had married Rashid willingly and wanted to live with her husband’s family. The vigilantes who had accosted them brought Pinki’s family to the police station. What is inexcusable is that the police remained mute as the vigilantes harassed and interrogated the innocent couple. Pinki suffered a miscarriage, possibly as a result of the harassment. Rashid is reported to have said, “I told the Bajrang Dal men my wife is pregnant, but they hurled abuses at us. They dragged us to a police station and called my in-laws. We were then locked up and sent to a quarantine centre. I wasn’t able to meet my wife.” (Rehman & Sinha, The Indian Express, December 20, 2020).Does this notamount to effective murderof an unborn child and isthe police force of your State, by their inaction, not complicit in this?
Regrettably this is only one of a series of heinous atrocities committed by your administration against young Indians across Uttar Pradesh (UP), Indians who aresimply seeking to live their lives as free citizens of a free country. These atrocities, regardless of the indignation of all Indians devoted to the rule of law,continue unabated. The anti-conversion ordinance of your State is being used as a stick to victimiseespeciallythose Indian menwho are Muslim and women who dare to exercise their freedom of choice. While the various High Courts, including the Allahabad High Court, have ruled unequivocally that choosing one’s life partner is a fundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution, the state of UP is blithely underminingthat very Constitution. The vigilantes are acting as a power unto themselves in intimidating innocent Indian citizens. It has become painfully evident that, in recent years, UP state, once known as the cradle of the Ganga-Jamuna civilisation, has become the epicentre of the politics of hate, division and bigotry and that the institutions of governance are now steeped in communal poison. What is worse is that your law enforcement machinery, with the active backing of your government, is playing a role reminiscent of the secret police in authoritarian regimes. You can pose no greater threat to the nation than by turning its own citizens against oneanother, a conflict that can only serve the country’s enemies. As Chanakya taught us, a crafty politician must sow dissension amongst rivals. Here you are sowing dissensions among our own people.
We, therefore,demand that the illegal ordinance be withdrawn forthwith and those Indians that have suffered from its unconstitutional enforcement be suitably compensated. The policemen who were responsible for allowing this must be called to account under the law, suitably investigated at a senior level of the magistracy and if found to have facilitated the death of the unborn infant, be put to trial under the IPC. Moreover, the entire police force of Uttar Pradesh needs to be trained without delay in respecting the rights of all citizens; and the politicians of UP, including yourself, need to re-educate yourselves about the provisions of the Constitution which you and other lawmakers have sworn to uphold. While our past communications to you give us little reason to expect that your government will take corrective action to uphold the rule of law, we do hope this letter will contribute to mobilising informed public opinion against these developments and that the Courts will take notice and intervene to stem the rot.
SATYAMEVA JAYATE
(104 signatories)
| 1. | Anita Agnihotri | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Department of Social Justice Empowerment, GoI |
| 2. | Salahuddin Ahmad | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan |
| 3. | Shafi Alam | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director General, National Crime Records Bureau, GoI |
| 4. | K. Saleem Ali | IPS (Retd.) | Former Special Director, CBI, GoI |
| 5. | S.P. Ambrose | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Secretary, Ministry of Shipping & Transport, GoI |
| 6. | Anand Arni | R&AW (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI |
| 7. | Vappala Balachandran | IPS (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI |
| 8. | Gopalan Balagopal | IAS (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
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| 9. | Chandrashekhar Balakrishnan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Coal, GoI |
| 10. | Rana Banerji | IAS (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat (R&AW), GoI |
| 11. | T.K. Banerji | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Union Public Service Commission |
| 12. | Sharad Behar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh |
| 13. | AurobindoBehera | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Odisha |
| 14. | Madhu Bhaduri | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Portugal |
| 15. | Pradip Bhattacharya | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Development & Planning and Administrative Training Institute, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 16. | Meeran C Borwankar | IPS (Retd.) | Former DGP, Bureau of Police Research and Development, GoI |
| 17. | Ravi Budhiraja | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, GoI |
| 18. | Sundar Burra | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra |
| 19. | Rachel Chatterjee | IAS (Retd.) | Former Special Chief Secretary, Agriculture, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh |
| 20. | KalyaniChaudhuri | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 21. | Anna Dani | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra |
| 22. | P.R. Dasgupta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Food Corporation of India, GoI |
| 23. | Nareshwar Dayal | IFS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs and former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom |
| 24. | Pradeep K. Deb | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Deptt. Of Sports, GoI |
| 25. | Nitin Desai | IES (Retd.) | Former Secretary and Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, GoI |
| 26. | Keshav Desiraju | IAS (Retd.) | Former Health Secretary, GoI |
| 27. | M.G. Devasahayam | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Govt. of Haryana |
| 28. | SushilDubey | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Sweden |
| 29. | A.S. Dulat | IPS (Retd.) | Former OSD on Kashmir, Prime Minister’s Office, GoI |
| 30. | K.P. Fabian | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Italy |
| 31. | Prabhu Ghate | IAS (Retd.) | Former Addl. Director General, Department of Tourism, GoI |
| 32. | Arif Ghauri | IRS (Retd.) | Former Governance Adviser, DFID, Govt. of the United Kingdom (on deputation) |
| 33. | Gourisankar Ghosh | IAS (Retd.) | Former Mission Director, National Drinking Water Mission, GoI |
| 34. | Suresh K. Goel | IFS (Retd.) | Former Director General, Indian Council of Cultural Relations, GoI |
| 35. | S.K. Guha | IAS (Retd.) | Former Joint Secretary, Department of Women & Child Development, GoI |
| 36. | H.S. Gujral | IFoS (Retd.) | Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Govt. of Punjab |
| 37. | Meena Gupta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, GoI |
| 38. | Ravi Vira Gupta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India |
| 39. | Wajahat Habibullah | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, GoI and Chief Information Commissioner |
| 40. | DeepaHari | IRS (Resigned) | |
| 41. | Sajjad Hassan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Commissioner (Planning), Govt. of Manipur
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| 42. | Rahul Khullar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India |
| 43. | Ajai Kumar | IFoS(Retd.) | Former Director, Ministry of Agriculture, GoI |
| 44. | Arun Kumar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, GoI |
| 45. | Brijesh Kumar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Department of Information Technology, GoI |
| 46. | Sudhir Kumar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Central Administrative Tribunal |
| 47. | P.K. Lahiri | IAS (Retd.) | Former ED, Asian Development Bank & Former Revenue Secretary, GoI |
| 48. | Aloke B. Lal | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director General (Prosecution), Govt. of Uttarakhand |
| 49. | SubodhLal | IPoS (Resigned) | Former Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications, GoI |
| 50. | B.B. Mahajan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Deptt. of Food, GoI |
| 51. | P.M.S. Malik | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Myanmar & Special Secretary, MEA, GoI |
| 52. | Harsh Mander | IAS (Retd.) | Govt. of Madhya Pradesh |
| 53. | Amitabh Mathur | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director, Aviation Research Centre and Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI |
| 54. | Aditi Mehta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan |
| 55. | Shivshankar Menon | IFS (Retd.) | Former Foreign Secretary and Former National Security Adviser |
| 56. | Sonalini Mirchandani | IFS (Resigned) | GoI |
| 57. | Noor Mohammad | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, National Disaster Management Authority, Govt. of India |
| 58. | Avinash Mohananey | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Sikkim
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| 59. | Deb Mukharji | IFS (Retd.) | Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh and former Ambassador to Nepal |
| 60. | Shiv Shankar Mukherjee | IFS (Retd.) | Former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom |
| 61. | Pranab S. Mukhopadhyay | IAS (Retd.) | Former Director, Institute of Port Management, GoI |
| 62. | Nagalsamy | IA&AS (Retd.) | Former Principal Accountant General, Tamil Nadu & Kerala |
| 63. | T.K.A. Nair | IAS (Retd.) | Former Adviser to Prime Minister of India |
| 64. | P.G.J. Nampoothiri | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Gujarat |
| 65. | P. Joy Oommen | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Chhattisgarh |
| 66. | Amitabha Pande | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI |
| 67. | Alok Perti | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Coal, GoI |
| 68. | R. Poornalingam | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, GoI |
| 69. | Rajesh Prasad | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to the Netherlands |
| 70. | R.M. Premkumar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra |
| 71. | T.R. Raghunandan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Joint Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, GoI |
| 72. | N.K. Raghupathy | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Staff Selection Commission, GoI |
| 73. | V.P. Raja | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission |
| 74. | C. Babu Rajeev | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, GoI |
| 75. | P.V. Ramesh | IAS (Retd.) | Former Addl. Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh |
| 76. | K. Sujatha Rao | IAS (Retd.) | Former Health Secretary, GoI |
| 77. | M.Y. Rao | IAS (Retd.) | |
| 78. | Nirupama Menon Rao | IFS (Retd.) | Former Foreign Secretary, GoI |
| 79. | Vijaya Latha Reddy | IFS (Retd.) | Former Deputy National Security Adviser, GoI |
| 80. | Julio Ribeiro | IPS (Retd.) | Former Adviser to Governor of Punjab & former Ambassador to Romania |
| 81. | Aruna Roy | IAS (Resigned) | |
| 82. | Manabendra N. Roy | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 83. | Deepak Sanan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Principal Adviser (AR) to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh |
| 84. | S. Satyabhama | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairperson, National Seeds Corporation, GoI |
| 85. | N.C. Saxena | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Planning Commission, GoI |
| 86. | A. Selvaraj | IRS (Retd.) | Former Chief Commissioner, Income Tax, Chennai, GoI |
| 87. | Ardhendu Sen | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 88. | AbhijitSengupta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI |
| 89. | Aftab Seth | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Japan |
| 90. | Ashok Kumar Sharma | IFoS (Retd.) | Former MD, State Forest Development Corporation, Govt. of Gujarat |
| 91. | Ashok Kumar Sharma | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Finland and Estonia |
| 92. | Navrekha Sharma | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Indonesia |
| 93. | Pravesh Sharma | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh |
| 94. | Raju Sharma | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh |
| 95. | Rashmi Shukla Sharma | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh |
| 96. | Ramesh Inder Singh | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Punjab and former Chief Information Commissioner, Punjab |
| 97. | Tirlochan Singh | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, National Commission for Minorities, GoI |
| 98. | Jawhar Sircar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI, &former CEO, Prasar Bharati |
| 99. | A.K. Srivastava | IAS (Retd.) | Former Administrative Member, Madhya Pradesh Administrative Tribunal |
| 100. | P.S.S. Thomas | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission |
| 101. | Geetha Thoopal | IRAS (Retd.) | Former General Manager, Metro Railway, Kolkata |
| 102. | Hindal Tyabji | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary rank, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir |
| 103. | Ashok Vajpeyi | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Lalit Kala Akademi |
| 104. | Ramani Venkatesan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Director General, YASHADA, Govt. of Maharashtra |
