An Open Statement on the Flawed Investigation into the Delhi Riots, February 2020

The Forum for Constitutional Rights and Democratic Freedoms (FCRDF) was constituted in August, 2020, after discussion among its Principal Members, comprising both individuals and organizations, all representing different constituencies. All were concerned with the erosion of constitutional rights and democratic freedoms in the last few years and came together on a common platform to stem the tide. The groups represented are a) several Armed Forces Veterans; b) the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) representing people’s organizations of the poor and disadvantaged; c) the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), made up of former civil servants; d)civil society organisations and concerned citizens; e) the Indian Cultural Forum, deeply involved with cultural issues.

This is our first statement on behalf of the FCRDF.

We write to express our full support, in principle, for the statement ‘We will not be silenced’ made by Harsh Mander on September 4, 2020.  We agree with him that the communal riots in Delhi in February 2020 have not been caused by any conspiracy as alleged by the Delhi Police. On the contrary, they have been caused by hate speech and provocative statements made by a number of political leaders of the ruling party.

We stand with Harsh Mander, him, Professor Apoorvanand and their fellow activists. Neither their voices nor ours will be silenced as we speak for truth and freedom.  The ringing words of Harsh Mander’s statement, especially those of the last paragraph, bear repetition and have our endorsement:

“We declare here – and hope those holding highest office in the country hear us loud and clear – that the government will never succeed in silencing us, and will never succeed in taking away from us the dream we inherited from our freedom struggle, the dream of together building a country which is just, and equal, and kind.”

Admiral (retd.) L. Ramdas, former Chief of Naval Staff

Aruna Roy, MazdoorKisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS)

Deb Mukharji, IFS (Retd.), former High Commissioner to Bangladesh, CCG

Dr. Ganesh Devy, civil society organizations and concerned citizens

Githa Hariharan, writer, Indian Cultural Forum

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“We will not be silenced”

The Delhi Police believes that there was a conspiracy behind the communal violence in Delhi during the third week of February.

We agree.

But the actual conspiracy was a very different one from the one which Delhi Police is propagating.

The truth is that not just the Delhi 2020 carnage; no major episode of communal violence is spontaneous: it is always planned, organized and facilitated.

Such violence requires first the systematic creation of hatred. In Delhi we saw the build-up during the Delhi elections of a climate of hatred spawned by hate speech by senior leaders targeting the protestors against CAA NRC NPR. This was led from the front by the union home minister, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and several other cabinet and BJP party leaders. The outcome was the spread of unprecedented levels of toxic communal venom, unmatched in any previous election in Delhi.

But beyond the manufacture of hatred and the organization of the violence, the critical factor in any riot conspiracy is the role of the state, and particularly the police. No riot can go on for more than a few hours except if the government wishes for it to do so.

There is massive evidence of the complicit partisan role of the police in the Delhi violence. I have spent a lot of time with the victim survivors of the Delhi carnage. I have heard hundreds of testimonies from them about the role of the police enabling, encouraging and actually indulging in hate violence.

The video of policemen tormenting four young men lying on the ground, among who Faizan subsequently died, is telling. The police while beating the men prone on the ground are taunting them by asking them to sing the national anthem; it was clear that they are punishing them for the protests, in which the national anthem had become an iconic symbol of the protests, of resistance, of unity and of solidarity.

This was the conspiracy behind the Delhi communal violence. It was a bid by the Indian state, aided by the Delhi police, to punish and crush the largest non-violent protests that independent India has seen.

The police story is quite the opposite. According to them, it was the anti-CAA-NRC-NPR protests which were the conspiracy, and that the non-violence of the protests was only a facade.

In pursuit of this story, every day the Special Branch of the Delhi Police, which normally investigates grave crimes like terror, is busy for the past months summoning mostly young people, and sometimes seniors, grilling them, intimidating them, and sometimes – as Umar Khalid has testified – forcing them create false evidence.

Large numbers of young people are today languishing in prison for months without bail in the name of this so-called conspiracy.

We are gathered here today above all in the defence and solidarity with all of these young people.

Yes, they and we did participate in the non-violent movement against CAA NRC NPR, and we are proud to have done so.

During the protests some WhatsApp groups were made. Now every word exchanged in these groups are being examined with a defective microscope by the police, their meaning and context deliberately and mischievously misinterpreted, the truth ripped into shreds and reimagined to create the mythology of a conspiracy of hate, violence and insurrection.

There were significantly other WhatsApp groups that the police themselves admit to, wherein indeed people are actively calling for and organizing the violence on those dates. None of these are being the subject to any investigation of a conspiracy.

Our protests, and those of the young people now in our prisons, were to uphold the Constitution, and the idea of an inclusive and humane country of equal citizenship, which is the proudest legacy of our freedom struggle.

The young people and we protested because we love our country dearly, and we seek to make this country better for all its citizens, of every religion, caste, class and gender, by holding the state accountable to stand by its duties to the constitution.

It is a travesty to describe this as a crime against the nation. Those who are seeking to create divisions and hate among us are those who are committing crimes against our country.

The objective of the government is transparent; to destroy the basic guarantees and freedoms of our constitution.

The effort of the Indian state, facilitated by the Delhi Police, is to crush our voices, our dissent, and our struggles to uphold our constitution.

We declare here – and hope those holding highest office in the country hear us loud and clear – that the government will never succeed in silencing us, and will never succeed in taking away from us the dream we inherited from our freedom struggle, the dream of together building a country which is just, and equal, and kind .

Harsh Mander

4 September, 2020

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Endorsed by:

1	A M Khan, Jt Sec, LIC Retired Employees’ Asso & Sec, Chitra Film Society	226	Mathew Padayatty S.J.
2	A Selvaraj, IRS (Retd)	227	Mazher Hussan, COVA
3	Abha Bhalya	228	Meena Gupta, IAS (Retd)
4	Abha Dev Habib, Assistant Professor, Miranda House, University of Delhi	229	Melanie P Kumar
5	Abha Sur	230	Mendonca Edward
6	Abhay	231	MG Devasahayam, IAS (Retd)
7	Abhay Shirekar	232	Mira Shiva, Public Health Physician
8	Abhijit Dasgupta, Retired Teacher, Delhi University	233	Mohan Rao, former professor at the Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, JNU
9	Abhijit Sengupta, IAS (Retd)	234	Mohan Sharma
10	Abhilash, Secretary, Gram Seva Sangh	235	Mohan Trivedi, Professor
11	Abinash Dash Choudhury, Jadavpur University	236	Mridula Garg, Writer and Freedom Lover
12	Achin Vanaik, Retd Professor, University of Delhi	237	Mridula Mukherjee
13	Achuthan Palat	238	Mrigank, Indian Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU)
14	Aditi Mehta, IAS (Retd)	239	MS Chahal, IAS (Retd)
15	Aditya Mukherjee	240	MT Ansari, Professor, University of Hyderabad
16	Aditya Nigam	241	Muralidharan, General Secretary, National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled
17	Admiral LRamdas, PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM	242	MY Rao, IAS (Retd)
18	Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, PVSM, AVSM	243	N P Chekkutty, Senior journalist
19	Aftab Seth, IFS (Retd)	244	Nagesh Hegde
20	Ahana Rao, Architect	245	Najeeb Jang, IAS (Retd)
21	Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak, AVSM, VSM	246	Najid Hussain, Scientist
22	Ajai Kumar, IFoS(Retd)	247	Nandita Das
23	Ajay Skaria, Historian	248	Nandita Narain, Delhi University
24	Ajit Singh Yadav, convenor, Lok Morcha	249	Naomi Magh, St Xavier College Jalukie
25	AK Samanta, IPS (Retd)	250	Narendra Sisodia, IAS (Retd)
26	Albert Longley Dkhar, Principal, St Anthony’s College, Shillong	251	Naseeruddin Shah
27	Alok Perti, IAS (Retd)	252	Natasha Bhadwar
28	Alok Rai	253	Navaroze Contractor, Artists & Film Maker
29	Aloke B Lal, IPS (Retd)	254	Navrekha Sharma, IFS (Retd)
30	Amanulla Khan, Former President, AIIE Association	255	Nayana Trivedi, Physician
31	Amita Baviskar, Ashoka University	256	Nayantara Sahgal, Author
32	Amita Buch	257	NC Saxena, IAS (Retd)
33	Amita Joseph	258	Neera Chandoke
34	Amitabh Mathur, IPS (Retd)	259	Neeraj Jain
35	Amitabha Pande, IAS (Retd)	260	Nikhil Dey
36	Amiya Kumar Dev, former vice chancellor of Vidyasagar University	261	Niranjan Pant, IA&AS (Retd)
37	Anand Archak, President, Insurance Employees’ Union,	262	Nisha Shiurkar, Writer
38	Anand Arni, R&AW (Retd)	263	Nitin Desai, IES (Retd)
39	Anand Patwardhan, Film Maker	264	NK Raghupathy, IAS (Retd)
40	Anbarasan P, Department of Mass communication, Tezpur University	265	Noor Mohammad, IAS (Retd)
41	Angana Chatterji, Scholar	266	Noor Zaheer, National Secretary, Indian People’s Theatre Association
42	Anil Bisht	267	Nuzhat Kazmi, Professor, JMI and Ahmar Raza, retd Scientist
43	Anil Sadgopal	268	Ordetta Mendoza, Co-ordinator of Programmes, XB
44	Animesh Das, Indian Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU)	269	P. Rajamanickam, Rtd Associate Professor of zoology
45	Anita Agnihotri, IAS (Retd)	270	Padma Venkataraman
46	Anjali Kanitkar, Associate Professor ( retd), Founder Trustee-AROEHAN	271	Pankaj Bisht, Writer
47	Anjali Monteiro, Filmmaker and Academic	272	Parveen Talha, IRS (Retd)
48	Anna Dani, IAS (Retd)	273	Paul Mat,hew Teacher of Journalism & Mass Communication
49	Annamma Philip FMM, Secretary General, Xavier Board	274	PGJ Nampoothiri, IPS (Retd)
50	Annamma Philip, Xavier Board of Higher Education	275	PK Lahiri, IAS (Retd)
51	Annie Namala	276	Poile Sengupta
52	Anthony Dias, Social Scientist	277	Poonam kaushik General Secretary Pragatisheel Mahila Sangathan Delhi
53	Anupama Potluri, University of Hyderabad	278	Poornima, Artist and Organic farmer
54	Anuradha Kapur	279	PR Dasgupta, IAS (Retd)
55	Aparna Sen	280	Prabhu Ghate, IAS (Retd)
56	Apoorvanand, Teacher and Writer	281	Prabhu Mohapatra, Department of History, University of Delhi,
57	AR Vasavi	282	Prabir Purkayastha
58	Arati Chokshi, Retired Scientist & Activist	283	Pradeep K Deb, IAS (Retd)
59	Ardhendu Sen, IAS (Retd)	284	Pradip Datta
60	Arif Ghauri, IRS (Retd)	285	Prakash Louis
61	Arun Kumar, Retired Professor JNU	286	Pramod Mujumdar, Co-ordinator, SALOKHA
62	Aruna Roy, IAS (Resigned)	287	Pramod Munghate, RTM Nagpur University
63	Aruna Sabane, President Maher sanstha	288	Pranab S Mukhopadhyay, IAS (Retd)
64	Arundhati Dhuru, National Alliance of People’s Movements	289	Pranab Talukdar
65	Arup Kumar Sen	290	Prasad Charasala
66	AS Dulat, IPS (Retd)	291	Prasad Tadepalli
67	Asha Hans, Academic	292	Prashant Olalekar
68	Asha Vombatkere, School Teacher	293	Pravesh Sharma, IAS (Retd)
69	Ashim Jain	294	Preeti Sampat, Academic
70	Ashish Ranjan	295	Prem Verma, Convenor, Jharkhand Nagrik Prayas
71	Ashok Kumar Sharma, IFoS (Retd)	296	Prerna, concerned citizen
72	Ashok Kumar Sharma, IFS (Retd)	297	Priti Turakhia, concerned citizen
73	Ashok Vajpeyi, IAS (Retd)	298	Prof. M.H. Jawahirullah, Ex MLA, President, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi
74	Ashraf Ali Basheer Ahàmed, Constituion Protection Group	299	Professor G Haragopal, NLSIU
75	Ashraf Ali Bashir Ahamed	300	PSS Thomas, IAS (Retd)
76	Atamjit Singh	301	Purendra Prasad, Professor of Sociology, University of Hyderabad
77	Atreyee Day, concerned citizen	302	Purwa Bharadwaj
78	Atul Gurtu	303	Purwa Bharadwaj Writer
79	Aurobindo Behera, IAS (Retd)	304	Pushpamala N
80	Avinash Mohananey, IPS (Retd)	305	R Vijay, professor in economics, University of Hyderabad
81	B N Poojary, General Secretary, LIC Retired Employees Association	306	Rabin Chakraborty, retd Teacher, Calcutta University
82	Badri Raina, Author/ Columnist	307	Rachel Chatterjee, IAS (Retd)
83	Baghambar Pattanaik, President, Anti-Slavery India	308	Radhika Chopra, Sociologist
84	Balaji Narasimhan	309	Raghunandana Sathamarshana, Kannada poet, playwright, stage-director
85	Benny Kuruvilla	310	Rahul Khullar, IAS (Retd)
86	Bezwada Wilson	311	Rahul Mali, Anubhav Shiksha kendr
87	Bhaskar Prabhu	312	Rajendran Narayanan, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
88	Bindu T Desai MD	313	Rajiv Lochan Sah, Editor Nainital Samachar
89	Brigadier VHM Prasad	314	Rajni Bakshi
90	Brijesh Kumar, IAS (Retd)	315	Rajni Palriwala, Professor of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics
91	Brinelle D’souza, JSA-MUMBAI, JCoR-West India	316	Raju Rajagopal, Hindus for Human Rights (org) USA
92	C Rammanohar Reddy, Editor, The India Forum	317	Raju Sharma, IAS (Retd)
93	Captain (IN) RV Singh	318	Rama Shanker Singh, Researcher
94	Captain (IN) S Prabhala, VSM	319	Ramani Venkatesan, IAS (Retd)
95	Cavery Bopaiah, Swaraj India	320	Ramesh Kumar, concerned citizen
96	Chakradhar	321	Ramkumar B, Research Investigator, NCBC
97	Chaman Lal	322	Ramlal Bhatt
98	Chandra Krishnappa	323	Rana Banerji, IAS (Retd)
99	Chandrakant Patil	324	Rani Day, filmmaker, editor
100	Chandrashekhar Balakrishnan, IAS (Retd)	325	Ranjeet Kindo SJ, Director, Tribal Research and Training Centre
101	Chukka Srinivas	326	Rashmi Shukla Sharma, IAS (Retd)
102	Col Dinesh Ishwar Kumar	327	Ratna Pathak Shah
103	Colonel Ali Ahmed	328	Ravi Budhiraja, IAS (Retd)
104	Colonel Ashwin Baindur	329	Ravi Joshi
105	Colonel Dinesh Kumar	330	Ravi Vira Gupta, IAS (Retd)
106	Colonel Pavan Nair, VSM	331	Ravindra Rukmini Pandharinath, Writer
107	Colonel R Chidambaram	332	Raza Mir, Professor of Management, William Paterson University
108	Colonel SK Dhar	333	Rekha Awasthi , Janwadi Lekhak Sangh & Naya Path
109	Commander Sati Taneja	334	RM Premkumar, IAS (Retd)
110	Daisy Helen, Xavier Board	335	Roby Rajan, The Backwaters Collective
111	Deb Mukharji, IFS (Retd)	336	Rohan D’Souza, ASAFAS, Kyoto University
112	Debaditya Bhattacharya, Faculty, Kazi Nazrul University	337	Rohini Hensman (writer and researcher)
113	Debu Bose	338	Romi Mahajan
114	Deep Joshi	339	Rosamma Thomas
115	Deepa Hari, IRS (Resigned)	340	Rosamma Thomas, Journalist
116	Deepak Sanan, IAS (Retd)	341	RP Shahi
117	Deepika D’Souza	342	S Durga Bhavani, Professor, University of Hyderabad
118	Delia Antao, Nirmala Institute of Education	343	S Gopal, concerned citizen
119	Denzil Fernandes, Executive Director, Indian Social Institute	344	S Satyabhama, IAS (Retd)
120	DM Diwakar	345	Sabyasachi Chatterjee, Retired Scientist, Indian Institute of Astrophysics
121	Dr Shaikh Ghulam Rasool	346	Sagari R Ramdas, Veterinary Scientist, Food Sovereignty Alliance
122	Dunu Roy	347	Sandeep Pandey, Socialist Party (India)
123	DW Karuna, Assistant Professor, Azim Premji University	348	Sanjay Gadhalay
124	EAS Sarma	349	Sanjeev Kumar, Writer and Associate Professor, Deshbandhu College (DU)
125	EV Ramakrishnan, Author, Academic	350	Sannybhai
126	Felix Padel, Anthropologist	351	Santanu Chacraverti
127	Florence Fernandes	352	Santhanam A, Lawyers Fraternity Tamil Nadu (LFTN)
128	Fr Cedric Prakash SJ, Human Rights activist	353	Satish Deshpande
129	G Sankaran, IC&CES (Retd)	354	Satwant Reddy, IAS (Retd)
130	Ganesh Visputay, Poet, painter and translator	355	Satya Sagar, Associate Editor, Countercurrents
131	Geeta Kapur, Art Historian	356	Shabnam Hashmi
132	Geetha SK, Insurance Corporation Employees Union, Bangalore	357	Shafi Alam, IPS (Retd)
133	Geetha Thoopal, IRAS (Retd)	358	Shailendra boora
134	George Karuvelil	359	Shailesh Gandhi
135	George Pulikuthiyil	360	Shalmali Guttal, Researcher
136	George Thadathil sdb, Principal & President, AIACHE Salesian College	361	Shantha Sinha
137	GG Parikh, President, Yusuf Meherali Centre	362	Shanti Maitree
138	Gita Jayaraj, Researcher/Writer	363	Sharachchandra Lele, Environmental Reseacher
139	Githa Hariharan	364	Sharad Behar, IAS (Retd)
140	GN Devy	365	Shashi Deshpande
141	Goldie Zaki, St Paul Institute of Professional Studies	366	Shaunak Phadnis, student, EFLU
142	Gopalan Balagopal, IAS (Retd)	367	Sheba Chhachhi
143	Gourisankar Ghosh, IAS (Retd)	368	Shekhar Pathak, Historian and Editor PAHAR
144	Gurunagesh	369	Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, IFS (Retd)
145	Gyan Prakash, Princeton University	370	Shiva Shankar
146	H Sarwar Usmani, concerned citizen	371	Shivangi Bhasin
147	Harbans Mukhia , Former Professor and Rector, JNU	372	Shoma A Chatterji, Journalist and Author
148	Hindal Tyabji, IAS (Retd)	373	Shreekumar, Farmer and activist
149	Hiren Gohain	374	Shruti Parthasarathy, Independent Writer and Art Historian
150	Hony Lieutenant Sham Lal	375	Siby K George, Philosopher
151	HS Gujral, IFoS (Retd)	376	Siddharth Dube, Writer
152	Humayun Mursal, Executive president, Hindi Hain HumHindostan Hamara	377	Siraj Hussain, IAS (Retd)
153	Indira Vijaysimha, Poorna Learning Center	378	Sonalini Mirchandani, IFS (Resigned)
154	Indranee Dutta, Retired Professor, OKD Institute of Social Change and Development	379	Soundravalli Kulandaiswamy
155	Indu Prakash Singh State Level Shelter Monitoring Committee	380	Sowmya Dechamma C C, University of Hyderabad
156	J Suresh, Joint Secretary, SCZIEF (AIIEA)	381	SP Ambrose, IAS (Retd)
157	Jacob Kujur	382	Squadron Leader SC Das
158	Jagannath Dubey, concerned citizen	383	SR Hiremath
159	Jagdeep Chhokar, Former Professor and Dean, IIM Ahmedabad	384	Subhash Ware, Convener, Surajy Sena, IRSE (Retd)
160	James TJ, Centre for Environmental Studies, Sacred Heart College	385	Subhashini Ali
161	Jasveen Jairath, concerned citizen	386	Subhasis Bandyopadhyay, Associate Professor, IIEST
162	Javid Chowdhury, IAS (Retd)	387	Subhendu Dasgupta, Former faculty University of Calcutta
163	Jawed Usmani, IAS (Retd)	388	Subodh Lal, IPoS (Resigned)
164	Jawhar Sircar, IAS (Retd)	389	Subrat Das
165	Jayant Pawar, Playright-Writer	390	Suchetana Banerjee, Asst Prof, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts
166	Jayati Ghosh, JNU, New Delhi	391	Sudhir Chandra
167	Jaydeep, PDSU Delhi	392	Suhasini Mulay
168	Jerry Pinto	393	Sujatha Singh, IFS (Retd)
169	Jiten Nandi, Editor, Manthan Samayiki	394	Sujit Jadhao, Research Scholar, RTMNU
170	John Ishvaradas Abdallah, Social Justice & Human Rights Activist	395	Sukumar Muralidharan
171	John Mathew, Krea University	396	Sukumar Muralidharan, Journalist and Journalism instructor
172	Joseph Prabhu, Professor of Philosophy (Emeritus), California State University	397	Sundar Burra, IAS (Retd)
173	Joseph Puthenpura	398	Sunil Mitra, IAS (Retd)
174	Joseph Xavier, Director, Indian Social Institute	399	Suresh K Goel, IFS (Retd)
175	Josna, Critical Quest	400	Sushil Dubey, IFS (Retd)
176	Julio Ribeiro, IPS (Retd)	401	Swashpawan Singh
177	Jyoti Punwani, Freelance journalist	402	Syeda Hameed
178	Jyotirmaya Sharma, Professor	403	Sylvia Karpagam, Public health doctor
179	K John Koshy, IAS (Retd)	404	T Ramakrishnan, Sathyamangalam
180	K Saleem Ali, IPS (Retd)	405	T Vijay Kumar, The South Forum
181	K Satchidanandan	406	Tadapatla Ratnabai
182	K Srilata (Poet and Professor, Chennai)	407	Tapan Bose Filmmaker
183	K Sudhir, Architect	408	Thanksy Thekkekera, IAS (Retd)
184	K Sujatha Rao, IAS (Retd)	409	The Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia
185	Kalyani Chaudhuri, IAS (Retd)	410	Tirlochan Singh, IAS (Retd)
186	Kalyani Menon Sen, Independent researcher	411	TM Krishna
187	Kamal Jaswal, IAS (Retd)	412	Tony Raj
188	Kamalanand Jha	413	Tushar A Gandhi, Writer & Activist
189	Kannan Subramanian R	414	Uday Gadekar, Gen secy, Insurance Employees Union, Dharwad Employees’ Union
190	Karuna M, Chennai	415	Uma Maheswari Bhrugubanda, Asst Prof, The EFL University
191	Kasturi Sengupta	416	Umesh Nazir, Indian People’s Theatre Association
192	Katyayani Vidmahe , Academic, Prajaswamika Rachayithrula Vedika	417	Usha Naik
193	Kavery Nambisan, Surgeon and Writer	418	Usha Raman, Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad
194	Keshav Desiraju, IAS (Retd)	419	Uzramma, Social activist, Hyderabad
195	Kirity Roy	420	V Srinivasan, Chennai Metropol Construction & Unorganised Workers Union
196	Koninika Ray , National Federation of Indian Women	421	Vandana Prasad
197	Kopal, Assistant Professor, AUD	422	Vappala Balachandran, IPS (Retd)
198	KP Fabian, IFS (Retd)	423	Varghese Theckanath sg
199	KP Jayasankar, Filmmaker and Academic	424	Varun Aiyer, Artist, Teacher, Citizen
200	KP Sasi	425	Venkatesh Athreya, Professor of Economics (RETD), Bharathidasan University
201	Krishnan UnniP, Novelist and Poet in Malyalam and in English	426	Venugopal Maddipati
202	KS Sidhu, IAS (Retd)	427	Vibha Maurya
203	Kumar Prashant, Gandhian Scholar-Activist	428	Vibha Puri Das
204	Lakshmi Goparaju, Georgetown University	429	Vijay Bharatiya
205	Lalit Mathur, IAS (Retd)	430	Vijaya Latha Reddy, IFS (Retd)
206	Lalita Ramdas, Citizen, Educator, Activist	431	Vijaya Ramachandran
207	Laltu (Harjinder Singh), Hindi poet and writer	432	Vikas Bajpai, Assistant Professor, Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health
208	Lok Morcha	433	Vinay Jain
209	Lourdu Raj SJ	434	Vinay Lal, Historian
210	M M P Singh , Janwadi lekhak sangh & naya path	435	Vinod Vyasulu, Formerly RBI Chair at the Institute of Social and Economic Change
211	M Venissa, Principal, St Agnes College	436	Virendra Yadav, Hindi literary critic
212	M.H. Jawahirullah, Ex-MLA and President, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi	437	Virginius Xaxa, Sociologist
213	MA Kalam, Professor of Anthropology, Chennai	438	Vivan Sundaram, Artist
214	Madan Meena, Adivasi Academy	439	Vivek Pinto
215	Madhu Bhaduri, IFS (Retd)	440	VN Sharma, Retired SAIL Executive
216	Madhulika Reddy, Researcher	441	VP Raja, IAS (Retd)
217	Madhusree Mukerjee, Writer	442	Wajahat Habibullah, IAS (Retd)
218	Madhusudhan, Theatre Activist	443	Walter Fernandes, Director, North Eastern Social Research Centre
219	Mahua Dutta, Writer	444	William Sequeira
220	Maimoona Mollah	445	Wing Commander CAV Murthy
221	Major General SG Vombatkere, VSM	446	Xavier John Bosco, Andhra Loyola College
222	Manabendra N Roy, IAS (Retd)	447	Yasmeen Lukmani, Professor (Retd), University of Mumbai
223	Manisha Gupte, Feminist Activist	448	Yasmin Bano
224	Manoranjan Mohanty	449	Yogesh Wanjari
225	Marina, Asha Niketan School	450	Yousuf Saeed, Filmmaker