34 academicians, activists pen open letter to Karnataka CM on violence against minorities
India Today
A group of academicians, writers and other eminent personalities has written an open letter to Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai condemning “frequent violence against religious minorities” in the state.
A group of academicians, writers and other eminent personalities has written an open letter to Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai raising concerns regarding the “frequent violence against religious minorities” in the state.
Historians Ramachandra Guha, Prof Janaki Nair, scientists Prof Sharadchandra Lele, Prof Vinod Gaur and Prof Vidyanand Nanjundiah; sociologists AR Vasavi and Prof Satish Deshpande, Kannada writers Vivek Shanbhag, Purushottam Bilimale and KP Suresha, and activist Bezwada Wilson are among the 34 signatories to this joint letter condemning growing intolerance in Karnataka.
In the letter, they wrote: “Over the past few months, the state has witnessed the brutal killing of youths in several districts, rampant ‘hate speeches’, public threats and disruptions of worship by religious minorities, ‘honour killings’, ‘moral policing’, misogynistic statements by legislators, and incidents of hostile and violent encounters between various religious groups. These trends have been encouraged by the callous and un-constitutional statements made by legislators and the inability of the state machinery to rein-in fringe anti-social groups.”
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Such trends go against the long history of Karnataka as a progressive state that facilitated social harmony of a plural society, the letter states. The writers expressed “sadness and alarm” that the state’s traditions of tolerance and shared well-being are being undermined on multiple fronts.
They also noted with concern that recent legislations enacted in the state, such as the ‘cow protection’ and ‘anti-conversion’ Acts, are “pogroms” against the economic and cultural rights of religious minorities.
“No longer are harmony, peace, and tolerance the hallmarks of the state,” they wrote, adding if these issues are not addressed, then Karnataka's reputation as a business destination is bound to be impacted negatively as “all types of economic activity depend upon an atmosphere of social peace and harmony”.
