197 signatories' call out bias in letter to PM Modi after CCG's letter on 'hate politics'

Lashing out at the letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing serious concern over politics of hate, signed by over 100 bureaucrats, 197 signatories called out the 'agenda-driven biased and politicised statements'. Stating that influenced governance amounts to anarchy, a total of 197 signatories consisting of 8 retired judges, 97 retired bureaucrats and 92 armed forces veterans, as 'concerned citizens', termed the letter calling out hate in politics as a 'political anti-Modi Government exercise'. 

"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 letter read. 

197 signatories call out hypocrisy in PM Modi's critics' open letter

Declaring that the public will not be influenced by 'a self-styled Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG)'s calling for an end to the politics of hate, the panel wrote they cultivate sincere motivations. "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," the letter stated. 

Calling out hypocrisy on the part of concerned citizens who choose not to speak up on all occasions and twisted events in the country but only when it is convenient to them, the signatories said, "these open letters repeat the same language, have the same tenor and use biased terms with clear ideological moorings speaks for itself. Strangely, one often notices a striking similarity between the phraseology of the CCG missives and utterances in the western media or by western agencies."

'Unprincipled approach to issues'

Citing 'unprecedented' West Bengal's post-poll violence that ensued after the declaration of the results on May 2, 2021, the letter called out 'silence of this so-called CCG'. 

"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," the letter enumerated series of incidents that the CCG forgot to mention in their concern addressed to PM Modi. 

"Such studied omissions expose their attachment to “constitutional conduct”," the letter taunted. 

'...deliberate attempts to make an issue out of non-issues'

The letter vouched for a contrasting reality as compared to the letter criticising PM Modi's 'politics of hate'. It read, "The reality is that instances of major communal violence have palpably decreased under the BJP government and this is appreciated by the public."

While admitting that incidents of communal clash and mob violence cannot be 'entirely eradicated' from any society, 197 panellists to the letter said, "The double standards in assessing a situation, deliberate attempts to make an issue out of non-issues, distorted thinking on the challenges faced by the country, resort to bloated vocabulary to grab international attention, motivated tirades against the democratically elected governments, is a malaise of our society that the CCG reflects in its open letters."

'CCG should not give ideological cover to an anti-national outlook'

Moreover, the letter outrightly mentioned that anti-national elements and ideologies must not be perceived merely as opposing ideologies. It is imperative to demarcate political differences with anti-India elements. "The CCG should not give ideological cover to an anti-national outlook as well as religious and left-wing extremism, which they seem to do," the letter noted. 

'Dramatic emergence of controversies relating to hijab' 

The signatories did not forget to mention the recent highly-controversial hijab row which originated from BJP-ruled Karnataka and said that the same was fueled dramatically and with mala fide intentions. 

"The dramatic emergence of controversies relating to hijab (long-established, and till now non-controversial as uniforms prescribed for students in educational institutions), halal certification etc. is the work of vested interests within the country wanting to keep the narrative alive of minority persecution, majoritarianism and Hindu nationalism under the present government," the letter said. 

Such a narrative gets recognition and encouragement from international lobbies that want to halt India's progress, it added. 

Furthermore, adding that CCG members are concerned citizens who should free themselves from biases, the letter read, "Constructive criticism is an essential feature of democracy provided such criticism is not selective."

One of the signatories to the letter, Praveen Dixit, IPS, former DGP Maharashtra, told Republic TV that the open letter addressing hate in politics was nothing but a 'tool kit'. 

Violence on Ram Navami was not given any heed by PM Modi's critics;  "Violence was let loose, by whom? Again no talks about the people who are responsible for it, he said.