MUMBAI: Just a couple of days after a group of 49 celebrities from different fields written an open letter to PM Modi against “religious identity-based hate crimes”, another group of personalities, including actor Kangana Ranaut, lyricist Prasoon Joshi write an open letter against ‘selective outrage and false narratives’.
The fresh open letter signed by 61 celebrities slams the earlier document signed by 49 celebrities.
“To us, the undersigned, this document of selective outrage comes across as an attempt at tarnishing India’s international standing and to negatively portray Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s untiring efforts to effectuate governance on the foundations of positive nationalism and humanism,” the letter said.
The signatories slams the 49 celebrities including filmmakers and historians, over the letter sent to PM Modi on July 23, calling them “self-styled guardians conscience-keepers of the nation”.
“The signatories to the ‘open letter’ have, in the past, kept silent when tribals and the marginalised have become victims of Naxal terror, they have kept silent when separatists have issued dictates (sic) to burn schools in Kashmir, they have kept silent when the demand for dismembering India, for making pieces of her – Tukde Tukde – were made…” it said.
In the letter dated July 23, the celebrities writes to the Prime Minister over incidents of lynching in the country.
“The lynching of Muslims, Dalits and other minorities must be stopped immediately. We were shocked to learn from the NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) reports that there have been no less than 840 instances of atrocities against Dalits in the year 2016, and a definite decline in the percentage of convictions,” the letter read.