A group of 183 people, both students and faculty, from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad and Bangalore have penned a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to take action and speak against attacks on minorities, stating that his silence only emboldened the culprits of such attacks.
"Your silence on the rising intolerance in our country, Honourable Prime Minister, is disheartening to all of us who value the multicultural fabric of our country. Your silence, Honourable Prime Minister, emboldens the hate-filled voices and threatens the unity and integrity of our country," says the letter, as quoted by the Indian Express. It urges him to steer the country away from "forces that seek to divide us".
Professor Rakesh Basant, one of the signatories and professor of economics at IIM Ahmedabad told the Indian Express that the voices of reason should be louder than the voices of hate.
The letter was written in the context of numerous attacks on minority populations in the country, including attacks on Christians and Christian places of worship in Karnataka as well as hate speeches against Muslims made by BJP MLA Tejasvi Surya and the members of the "Dharma Sansad" conclave in Haridwar in December.
"Our Constitution gives us the right to practice our religion with dignity – without fear, without shame. There is a sense of fear in our country now – places of worship, including churches in recent days, are being vandalised, and there have been calls to take arms against our Muslim brothers and sisters. All of this is carried out with impunity and without any fear of due process," the letter read.
It expresses a sincere request for the Prime Minister to "turn our minds and hearts, as a nation, away from inciting hatred against our people", and also exhorts the nation to focus on things that bring unity and prosperity to the country such as creativity, innovation and growth.
A similar letter by army veterans, lawyers and prominent journalists and activists was addressed to the Prime Minister, Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Justice C.V Ramana of the Supreme Court, urging the government to crack down on calls for genocide and hate against the Muslim population. The letter signatories expressed concerns that such social division could lead to external forces taking advantage of India's internal strife.