Mob lynching in the name of religion is one of the most serious social issues that disturb the communal harmony in the country.
Accordingly, some Bollywood celebrities along with other popular names in different walks of life came together to share their thoughts on the same. They together wrote an open letter to PM Narendra Modi and shared their growing concern on lynching issues.
Bollywood celebs like Anurag Basu, Mani Ratnam, Konkana Sen, Binayak Sen, Soumitro Chatterjee, Aparna Sen among others were some out of the 49 signatories of the open letter.
“People should not be branded as anti-national or urban-Naxals and incarcerated because of dissent against the government. Article 19 of the Constitution of India protect freedom of speech and expression. We were shocked to learn from the NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) reports that there have been not less than 840 instances of atrocities against Dalits in the year 2016 and a definite decline in the percentage of convictions,” celebrities mentioned in the letter.
“254 religious identity-based hate crimes were reported between January 1, 2009, and October 29, 2018, where at least 91 persons were killed and 579 were injured (FactChecker in-database (October 30, 2018),” they wrote. They also mentioned that ‘Jai Shri Ram’ has become a ‘war cry’ in our country.
“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 be perpetrated in the name of religion,” the letter read.
Just a day after this open letter surfaced, Bollywood celebs including Kangana Ranaut, Madhur Bhandarkar among 60 other celebrities have issued a counter-open letter on the same and slammed the other celebs for their “selective outrage”.
“To us, the undersigned, this document of selective outrage comes across as an attempt to foist a FALSE NARRATIVE… to negatively portray Prime Minister Modi’s untiring efforts… In fact under the Modi regime, we see maximum liberty to differ, to criticize and to abuse the government and dispensation in power – the spirit of dissent has never been stronger,” they wrote in the letter.
61 personalities including actor Kangana Ranaut, lyricist Prasoon Joshi, Classical Dancer and MP Sonal Mansingh,Instrumentalist Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Filmmakers Madhur Bhandarkar& Vivek Agnihotri write an open letter against 'selective outrage and false narratives'. pic.twitter.com/RGYIxXeJzS
— ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2019
The celebs have hailed PM Modi in the open letter with his election slogan, ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas, Sabka Visvas’.
The 61 personalities who have written an open letter against 'selective outrage and false narratives'. pic.twitter.com/Fdeac3KCri
— ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2019