24 April 2019
Our group of former civil servants of the All India and Central Services has no affiliation with any political party and is firmly committed to the Constitution of India. We write to express our disbelief and dismay at the candidature of Pragya Thakur for the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat. This decision could have been dismissed as yet another example of political expediency but for the enthusiastic endorsement by no less a person than the Prime Minister of India, who has termed her candidature as a symbol of our civilisational heritage.
As if it were not enough to nominate a person who is undergoing trial for acts of terror (the Malegaon Bomb Blast Case), Pragya Thakur, who is out on bail on medical grounds, has used the political platform she has been provided not just to propound her brand of bigotry, but also to insult the memory of Shri Hemant Karkare, the IPS officer who laid down his life in the fight against terror. For Ms. Thakur, Shri Karkare died not because he sacrificed his own life defending ours, but because she had put a curse on him for daring to investigate her and, through his meticulous investigations, successfully charging her for terrorist crimes. In her worldview, anyone who has the audacity to investigate a self-styled “Hindu” religious leader in a “Hindu” country earns divine wrath and therefore would naturally be destroyed.
As former civil servants, we are not normally wont to give voice to our feelings. However, this dishonouring of a former colleague, an officer known for his professionalism, has come as the ultimate shock and saddened us beyond words. The country needs to honour the sacrifice of Shri Karkare and not allow deviant individuals to denigrate him and his memory. Every officer who has served with or supervised the work of Shri Karkare has testified that he was a person of impeccable integrity and an inspiration to all who came in touch with him.
But this statement is not just about Shri Karkare. It is also about the atmosphere of hate and divisiveness that characterises not just this electoral campaign but seems to be percolating through society as a whole. The candidature of Pragya Thakur is not a symbol of our civilisational heritage. Our heritage is not that of acts of terrorism. It is not of majoritarianism but of celebrating our diversity. It is of tolerance, fraternity and of the unifying spirit of the Constitution of India.
To this end, we appeal to the Prime Minister of India to unequivocally condemn, through actions and statements, the existence of terror in any form. He cannot escape the irony of his party seeking votes in the name of fighting terrorism and at the same time endorsing the candidature of a person accused of terror crimes. Martyrdom cannot be selectively appropriated or given up for the pursuit of political ambition.
To institutions like the Election Commission and the Judiciary, we would like to point out that their efforts to contain the politics of divisiveness and of hate have had little impact so far. It is necessary to be far more proactive to stamp out this aberration. Inaction will only exacerbate the situation.
We, who came together to use our pooled experience in the service of the Constitution and to further the values enshrined therein, call upon our fellow citizens to join us in:
- Condemning unequivocally, the statement of Pragya Thakur;
- Demanding that the BJP withdraw her candidature;
- Reminding the Prime Minister of his oath to uphold Constitutional values and appealing to him to take the lead in putting an end to the climate of fear and intimidation and communal viciousness that seems to be permeating the entire electoral process.
We appeal to our fellow citizens to come together and use our collective might to ensure that the India that was dreamt of by Mahatma Gandhi – an India engaged in a ceaseless quest for truth and nonviolence – and the India that the founding fathers of our Constitution conceived of, remains intact and rises to its full potential.
We also appeal to our fellow citizens to reject the pervading atmosphere of hate and divisiveness. Every citizen of India, irrespective of caste, creed or religion, belongs to this country. Let us celebrate our unity in diversity and recall that, together, we have given unto ourselves this Constitution.
1. | Anita Agnihotri | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Department of Social Justice Empowerment, GoI |
2. | Salahuddin Ahmad | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Rajasthan |
3. | V.S. Ailawadi | IAS (Retd.) | Former Vice Chairman, Delhi Development Authority |
4. | S.P. Ambrose | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Secretary, Ministry of Shipping & Transport, GoI |
5. | Vappala Balachandran | IPS (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI |
6. | Gopalan Balagopal | IAS (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
7. | Chandrashekhar Balakrishnan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Coal, GoI |
8. | Meeran C Borwankar | IPS (Retd.) | Former DGP, Bureau of Police Research and Development, GoI |
9. | Ravi Budhiraja | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, GoI |
10. | Sundar Burra | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra |
11. | Kalyani Chaudhuri | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
12. | Javid Chowdhury | IAS (Retd.) | Former Health Secretary, GoI |
13. | Anna Dani | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra |
14. | Surjit K. Das | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Uttarakhand |
15. | Vibha Puri Das | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GoI |
16. | P.R. Dasgupta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Food Corporation of India, GoI |
17. | Nareshwar Dayal | IFS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs and former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom |
18. | Pradeep K. Deb | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Deptt. Of Sports, GoI |
19. | Keshav Desiraju | IAS (Retd.) | Former Health Secretary, GoI |
20. | M.G. Devasahayam | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Govt. of Haryana |
21. | Sushil Dubey | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Sweden |
22. | K.P. Fabian | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Italy |
23. | Arif Ghauri | IRS (Retd.) | Former Governance Adviser, DFID, Govt. of the United Kingdom (on deputation) |
24. | Gourisankar Ghosh | IAS (Retd.) | Former Mission Director, National Drinking Water Mission, GoI |
25. | Meena Gupta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, GoI |
26. | Ravi Vira Gupta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India |
27. | Wajahat Habibullah | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, GoI and Chief Information Commissioner |
28. | Deepa Hari | IRS (Resigned) | |
29. | Sajjad Hassan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Commissioner (Planning), Govt. of Manipur |
30. | Kamal Jaswal | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Department of Information Technology, GoI |
31. | Rahul Khullar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India |
32. | Ajai Kumar | Indian Forest Service (Retd.) | Former Director, Ministry of Agriculture, GoI |
33. | Arun Kumar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, GoI |
34. | Brijesh Kumar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Department of Information Technology, GoI |
35. | Sudhir Kumar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Central Administrative Tribunal |
36. | Subodh Lal | IPoS (Retd.) | Former Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications, GoI |
37. | Harsh Mander | IAS (Retd.) | Govt. of Madhya Pradesh |
38. | Aditi Mehta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan |
39. | Sonalini Mirchandani | IFS (Resigned) | GoI |
40. | Sunil Mitra | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Finance, GoI |
41. | Noor Mohammad | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, National Disaster Management Authority, Govt. of India |
42. | Deb Mukharji | IFS (Retd.) | Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh and former Ambassador to Nepal |
43. | Pranab S. Mukhopadhyay | IAS (Retd.) | Former Director, Institute of Port Management, GoI |
44. | Nagalsamy | IA&AS (Retd.) | Former Principal Accountant General, Tamil Nadu & Kerala |
45. | P.G.J. Nampoothiri | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Gujarat |
46. | Amitabha Pande | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI |
47. | Niranjan Pant | IA&AS (Retd.) | Former Deputy Comptroller & Auditor General of India |
48. | Alok Perti | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Coal, GoI |
49. | Jayant Prasad | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Nepal |
50. | N.K. Raghupathy | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Staff Selection Commission, GoI |
51. | V.P. Raja | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission |
52. | C. Babu Rajeev | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, GoI |
53. | Julio Ribeiro | IPS (Retd.) | Former Adviser to Governor of Punjab & former Ambassador to Romania |
54. | Aruna Roy | IAS (Resigned) | |
55. | Deepak Sanan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Principal Adviser (AR) to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh |
56. | Shyam Saran | IFS (Retd.) | Former Foreign Secretary and Former Chairman, National Security Advisory Board |
57. | S. Satyabhama | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairperson, National Seeds Corporation, GoI |
58. | N.C. Saxena | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Planning Commission, GoI |
59. | Ardhendu Sen | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
60. | Abhijit Sengupta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI |
61. | Aftab Seth | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Japan |
62. | Ashok Kumar Sharma | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Finland and Estonia |
63. | Navrekha Sharma | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Indonesia |
64. | Raju Sharma | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh |
65. | Jawhar Sircar
|
IAS (Retd.)
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Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI, & former CEO, Prasar Bharati |
66. | Narendra Sisodia | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Finance, GoI |
67. | Parveen Talha | IRS (Retd.) | Former Member, Union Public Service Commission |
68. | Thanksy Thekkekera | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Minorities Development, Govt. of Maharashtra |
69. | P.S.S. Thomas | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission |
70. | Hindal Tyabji | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary rank, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir |
71. | Ramani Venkatesan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Director General, YASHADA, Govt. of Maharashtra |
More such civi society action required
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