Aparna Sen, 48 Other Eminent Citizens Write to PM on Hate Crime

Video Producer: Furqan Faridi

Video Editor: Sandeep Suman

Expressing concern at the number of "religious identity-based hate crimes" in India, a group of eminent citizens has said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that 'Jai Shri Ram' has become a provocative war cry with many lynchings taking place in its name.

The 23 July letter, which also stressed that there is "no democracy without dissent", is signed by 49 celebrities from various fields, including filmmakers Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Anurag Kashyap and Aparna Sen as well as vocalist Shubha Mudgal, historian Ramchandra Guha and sociologist Ashis Nandy.

The letter lists statistics about the rise in lynchings and hate crimes against minorities including Dalits, Muslims and Christians particularly since PM Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) assumed power in May 2014. It urges the PM to crack down on these cases and implement harsher laws against the crimes.

Other signatories from the film and entertainment industries include filmmakers Shyam Benegal, Ketan Mehta, actor Konkona Sen and musician Shubha Mudgal.

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“Regrettably ‘Jai Shri Ram’ has become a provocative ‘war-cry’ today that leads to law and order problems, and many lynchings take place in its name. It is shocking that so much violence should be perpetrated in the name of religion!”

Letter to PM Modi

The letter also talks about the suppression of dissent and labelling of any opposing voice as ‘anti-national’.

“There is no democracy without dissent. People should not be branded ‘anti-national’ or ‘urban naxal’ and incarcerated because of dissent against the government.”

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No One Has the Right to Brand Us Anti-National: Aparna Sen

Shubha told Times Now that actor-director Aparna Sen was instrumental in reaching out to the big names in the film industry and explaining to them about the letter.

In a statement to the press, Sen said that those who have signed the letter are “deeply concerned about the fate of our country.” She expressed her distress at mob lynchings and instances when people have been forced to say, “Jai Shri Ram”. Speaking about the letter she said, “No one has the right to brand any of us, any of the signatories as anti-national. We are simply doing this because we love our country. We are raising our voices against the secular fabric of our country being ruined.”