49 ‘achievers and celebrities’ have written a letter to PM Modi claiming that atrocities against ‘Muslims and Dalits’ have increased in India. The letter also claims that ‘Jai Shri Ram’ has become a ‘provocative warcry’ and this is helping the lynching incidents against Muslims and Dalit.
#Breaking | Achievers & celebrities have written an open letter to PM @narendramodi protesting against the growing intolerance in India.
TIMES NOW’s @Tamal0401 with more details of the letter. Listen in. pic.twitter.com/YP1K969Zf6
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) July 24, 2019
The letter reportedly has been sent by members of the film fraternity. Interestingly, most of them are from Bengal. Konkona Sen, Sam Benegal, Aparna Sen, Gautam Ghosh are some of the names. Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has also signed the letter. The letter reportedly begins claiming that the undersigned, being the peace-loving and proud citizens of India are deeply concerned about the number of ‘tragic incidents’ that have happened recently.
However, the letter does not include the attack on Hindus as ‘tragic incidents’. It also does not consider the attacks on Dalit Hindus where Muslims have been found to be the perpetrators as tragic or concerning. It also cites the Factchecker data to claim attack on Muslims have been increasing. Indiaspend’s Factchecker has been found to be a repeat offender in peddling fake news.
TIMES NOW’s @DEKAMEGHNA takes us through the open letter to PM @narendramodi written by 49 people over growing intolerance in India.
Here is the report. Listen in. pic.twitter.com/nVl7YGQVHm
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) July 24, 2019
The letter claims that the slogan ‘Jai Shri Ram’ has been used in the lynching incidents, hinting that the ‘hate crime’ incidents are only being carried out by people who chant ‘Jai Shri Ram.
The letter also argues against the arrest of the alleged Urban Naxals. However, it claims that the Urban Naxals have been arrested because they had ‘dissented’ against the government. It does not mention that they have been arrested for their involvement in the Bhima Koregaon violence and support of Naxal activities.
It is notable here that during the previous term of the Modi government, there was a similar propagation of ‘rising intolerance’ narrative which had resulted in many so-called ‘award wapsi’.
The so-called celebrities and intellectuals have also not cared to note that many of the ‘hate crimes’ have turned out to be fake. In many incidents, the so-called victims had been found to falsely claim that they were being forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’.
In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, there were multiple attempts by the so-called intellectuals and celebrities to claim ‘minorities are under attack’ and ‘democracy is in danger’. However, these letters never seem to be concerned about the overwhelming number of hate crimes and mob lynchings where Hindus have been the victims.
