Expressing displeasure over the FIR lodged against 49 Indian celebrities for writing a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor has written to the PM asking him to take a public stand assuring the nation of his commitment to uphold freedom of expression.
A total of 49 celebrities including filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Aparna Sen, actor and filmmaker Revathy Asha, Konkona Sen, had written a letter to Modi in July on the increasing identity-based hate crimes and mob lynchings of Muslims, Dalits and minority communities of India. An FIR was filed against them by the Bihar police earlier this month, with a charge of sedition as well.
“Mob lynching, whether triggered by communal hatred or triggered by rumours about child kidnapping has become a disease that is spreading rapidly, and these citizens did the right thing in bringing it to your notice. As citizens of India we hope that every one of us can fearlessly bring to your notice issues of national importance, so that you can take the lead to address them,” Shashi Tharoor writes in his letter.
Stressing on the Prime Minister’s 2016 speech in the US Congress on the importance of the Constitution, Tharoor stated that this ‘however is being contradicted by the actions of your government’.
“We urge you to take a public stand welcoming dissent and assure the nation of your commitment to uphold freedom of expression even when it involves disagreement with you or your government,” Tharoor writes.
Tharoor also added that India is built on its diversity. “There is no democracy without dissent. Our great country is built on the bedrock of co-existence of diverse and often diverging views and ideologies. That is what makes India a successful and vibrant democracy. Those who have opposing view from yours should not be deemed enemies or anti-nationals,” he states in the letter.
Tharoor, in his letter, also asks Modi, “Since when has writing a letter of concern to the elected leader of the country, who is responsible for welfare of each of its citizens irrespective of their caste, creed, gender, religion, or political opinion — become the trigger for an FIR.”
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