Stop Nov 4 Mahapanchayat in Uttarakhand & “Dharma Sansad” in December: Former civil servants to Amit Shah

Over a 100 former civil servants have in an open letter to union home minister, Aman Shah urged and demanded that he takes urgent measures to stop the proposed mahapanchayat in Uttarkashi on November 4, 2024 and the proposed "dharma sansad" in December 2024 and further asked that action should be taken against those attempting to use such events to foment hate and incite violence.

Over eight dozen former civil servants have in an open letter to union home minister, Aman Shah urged and demanded that he takes urgent measures to stop the proposed mahapanchayat in Uttarkashi on November 4, 2024 and the proposed “dharma sansad” in December 2024 and further asked that action should be taken against those attempting to use such events to foment hate and incite violence.

Besides, the open communication also demands that the Uttarakhand police should be asked why they have failed to seek cancellation of bail in cases of violation of bail conditions, by Yati Narsinghanand and others. In fact, we feel Yati Narsinghanand should be arrested under the National Security Act for his attempts to disrupt public order. Besides, the Uttarakhand police should be asked to take strict action against all incidents of violence and hate speech, as per the law, the directions of the Supreme Court, and constitutional propriety.

The letter may be read here.

CCG Open letter to Union Home Minister on  fomenting of communal unrest in Uttarakhand

October 28, 2024

To

Shri Amit Shah,

Hon’ble Home Minister of India

Honourable Home Minister of India,

As you probably know, we, the members of the Constitutional Conduct Group of former civil servants, have frequently expressed our views on the systematic erosion in recent years of constitutional values in public policy, governance and politics. This erosion has been most evident in the way the authorities have dealt with situations of communal conflict. More often than not, the conduct of several governments has led to communal hostility and violence with the involvement of those elements in society that sustain themselves ideologically on the politics of majoritarian hate, exclusion and division. The rise of such elements has been particularly noticeable in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.

1. Today we write to you to express our alarm regarding recent developments in the state of Uttarakhand, a sensitive border state long known for its traditions of peace, harmony and environmental activism and which, until a few years ago, had never displayed even the faintest hint of majoritarian aggression and belligerence. In fact, given its long history of being a sanctuary for spiritual and philosophical pursuits of diverse faiths and traditions, the coexistence of different communities and their close relationship with one another was seen as normal and natural.

2. The wilful injection of communal poison into the body politic of Uttarakhand in recent years has been part of a systematic attempt to create new nurseries of hate which can change the syncretic, pluralistic and peaceful character of the region and make it into a breeding ground for an aggressive, militarised and bigoted version of Hindutva, permanently engaged in deepening the cleavage between communities. It is an attempt to force the minorities to live in a state of permanent fear and come to accept a premise that they are subordinate to the dominant Hindu majority. The plan seems to be to make Uttarakhand a template for similar strategies to be employed elsewhere in the country, in all places that have so far resisted such majoritarian aggression.

  1. A pattern is beginning to emerge in Uttarakhand which has very ominous portends:
  • On September 10, 2024, a hate speech was made in the Dehradun Press Club claiming that a “dharma sansad” will be organised in December 2024. It may be recalled that a “dharma sansad” was organized in Haridwar in December 2021, in which a series of genocidal speeches demanded the mass killings and mass rape of Indian Muslims. The call for another “dharma sansad” has now been made by many of the same individuals and Hindus have been asked to arm themselves and treat members of the minority community as “enemies of humanity”.
  • The announcement on September 10, 2024 was made against the background of a series of carefully organised incidents of hate inspired violence in the state.  Since August 12, 2024, hate speeches and violent attacks have occurred in Chauras (near Kirti Nagar), Dehradun, Srinagar, Berinag, Uttarkashi, Karnaprayag, Nandnagar (Chamoli), Tharali (Chamoli), Tilwada, Gauchar (Chamoli), Sonprayag, Haldwani and several other locations in the state.  Properties have been damaged and, reportedly, minority families have been forced to flee from their Boards have been put up banning business by Muslim and non-Hindu vendors. A small handful of individuals and organisations – including those involved in the 2021 “dharma sansad” – are responsible for the majority of these incidents. (As per our information, these are just five individuals and two organisations, viz. Bajrang Dal and Rashtriya Seva Sangathan).
  • There are ongoing calls for “mahapanchayats” to be held, which are used as a means to stoke communal violence and demand the economic boycott and expulsion of Muslim residents. We are informed that those who instigated the violence in Uttarkashi on October 24, 2024 have announced that they are going to call a mahapanchayat on November 4, 2024.
  • In the vast majority of incidents, past and present, those responsible for false inflammatory allegations of “love jihad”, hate speech or property destruction have not even been detained.[1] Even where a few arrests were made, most of those have been given bail including the notorious repeat offender and the main organiser of the 2021 event – Yati Narsinghanand.
  • When on bail, the accused flagrantly violate their bail conditions with the police remaining completely unconcerned. No attempts are made to cancel their bail.
  • In a particularly disturbing incident on September 27, 2024, the Dehradun police detained a repeat offender for being implicated in a violent communal clash that resulted in damage to trains as well as several private vehicles. However, his supporters were then permitted to block the main intersection of the city, call for a bandh in the main bazaar, deliver hate speeches openly and hold a celebratory parade after the main offender was “freed”.
  • On September 19, 2024, 53 women’s and civil society groups from 18 states wrote an open letter to the Uttarakhand Governor condemning the manner in which women’s safety was being endangered, and complained of the police being partisan.  They noted that while some members of the minority community have been physically attacked and publicly blamed for crimes against women, in the case of people close to the ruling party who are the real perpetrators of such violence, the police have gone slow, tried to weaken the case against them and have even attempted to pressurise the victims to withdraw their complaints.
  1. We applaud the fact that some district officials and police officers have adopted an even-handed approach, registered suo motu FIRs, and on some occasions prevented large scale violence from spreading.  But these attempts have been sporadic and insufficient in the face of a larger concerted attempt to raise the communal temperature, with the authorities either being complicit, or apathetic and ineffective.   We have raised this concern with the state government thrice since June 2023, but we see no change in the overall pattern.
  2. Against this sombre backdrop, we have reason to fear that if this ongoing campaign is not stopped, and if the proposed “dharma sansad” is permitted, this sensitive border state may spiral into a vicious cycle of organised violence with serious implications not just for internal peace and public order but for national security.
  3. We therefore request your urgent intervention to ensure that:

– communally charged events such as the proposed mahapanchayat in Uttarkashi on November 4, 2024 and the proposed “dharma sansad” in December 2024 are not permitted; action should be taken against those attempting to use such events to foment hate and incite violence.

– The Uttarakhand police should be asked why they have failed to seek cancellation of bail in cases of violation of bail conditions, by Yati Narsinghanand and others. In fact, we feel Yati Narsinghanand should be arrested under the National Security Act for his attempts to disrupt public order.

– The Uttarakhand police should be asked to take strict action against all incidents of violence and hate speech, as per the law, the directions of the Supreme Court, and constitutional propriety.

  1. We reiterate that we, as a group, have no affiliation with any political party or group and that our request is motivated entirely by our concern that a State known for its traditions of peace, tranquillity and civic harmony should not degenerate into becoming yet another arena for communal conflict and public disorder to serve narrow political and sectarian ends. 

SATYAMEVA JAYATE

Yours faithfully,

Constitutional Conduct Group (101 signatories, as at pages 4-7 below)

1.Anand ArniRAS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI
2.Aruna BagcheeIAS (Retd.)Former Joint Secretary, Ministry of Mines, GoI
3.Sandeep BagcheeIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
4.G. BalachandhranIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
5.Vappala BalachandranIPS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI
6.Gopalan BalagopalIAS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
7.Chandrashekar BalakrishnanIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Coal, GoI
8.Sushant BaligaEngineering Services (Retd.)Former Additional Director General, Central PWD, GoI
9.Rana BanerjiRAS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI
10.T.K. BanerjiIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Union Public Service Commission
11.Sharad BeharIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh
12.Aurobindo BeheraIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Odisha
13.Madhu BhaduriIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Portugal
14.Pradip BhattacharyaIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Development & Planning and Administrative Training Institute, Govt. of West Bengal
15.Nutan Guha BiswasIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Police Complaints Authority, Govt. of NCT of Delhi
16.Ravi BudhirajaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, GoI
17.Sundar BurraIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
18.Maneshwar Singh ChahalIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Secretary, Home, Govt. of Punjab
19.R. ChandramohanIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Secretary, Transport and Urban Development, Govt. of NCT of Delhi
20.Rachel ChatterjeeIAS (Retd.)Former Special Chief Secretary, Agriculture, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh
21.Kalyani ChaudhuriIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
22.Gurjit Singh CheemaIAS (Retd.)Former Financial Commissioner (Revenue), Govt. of Punjab
23.F.T.R. ColasoIPS (Retd.)Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Karnataka & former Director General of Police, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir
24.Anna DaniIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
25.Vibha Puri DasIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GoI
26.P.R. DasguptaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Food Corporation of India, GoI
27.Pradeep K. DebIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Deptt. Of Sports, GoI
28.Nitin DesaiFormer Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, GoI
29.M.G. DevasahayamIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Govt. of Haryana
30.Kiran DhingraIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, GoI
31.Sushil DubeyIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Sweden
32.A.S. DulatIPS (Retd.)Former OSD on Kashmir, Prime Minister’s Office, GoI
33.Prabhu GhateIAS (Retd.)Former Addl. Director General, Department of Tourism, GoI
34.Suresh K. GoelIFS (Retd.)Former Director General, Indian Council of Cultural Relations, GoI
35.S.K. GuhaIAS (Retd.)Former Joint Secretary, Department of Women & Child Development, GoI
36.H.S. GujralIFoS (Retd.)Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Govt. of Punjab
37.Meena GuptaIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, GoI
38.Ravi Vira GuptaIAS (Retd.)Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India
39.Vivek HarinarainIAS (Retd.)Govt. of Tamil Nadu
40.Sajjad HassanIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Govt. of Manipur
41.Siraj HussainIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Department of Agriculture, GoI
42.Kamal JaswalIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Department of Information Technology, GoI
43.Najeeb JungIAS (Retd.)Former Lieutenant Governor, Delhi
44.Vinod C. KhannaIFS (Retd.)Former Additional Secretary, MEA, GoI
45.Gita KripalaniIRS (Retd.)Former Member, Settlement Commission, GoI
46.Sudhir KumarIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Central Administrative Tribunal
47.Subodh LalIPoS (Resigned)Former Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications, GoI
48.Sandip Madan IAS (Resigned)Former Secretary, Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission
49.Harsh ManderIAS (Retd.)Govt. of Madhya Pradesh
50.Amitabh MathurIPS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI
51.Aditi MehtaIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan
52.Avinash MohananeyIPS (Retd.)Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Sikkim
53.Satya Narayan MohantyIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission
54.Sudhansu MohantyIDAS (Retd.)Former Financial Adviser (Defence Services), Ministry of Defence, GoI
55.Ruchira MukerjeeIP&TAFS (Retd.)Former Advisor (Finance), Telecom Commission, GoI
56.Deb MukharjiIFS (Retd.)Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh and former Ambassador to Nepal
57.Jayashree MukherjeeIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
58.Shiv Shankar MukherjeeIFS (Retd.)Former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
59.Gautam MukhopadhayaIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Myanmar
60.NagalsamyIA&AS (Retd.)Former Principal Accountant General, Tamil Nadu & Kerala
61.P. Joy OommenIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Chhattisgarh
62.Amitabha PandeIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI
63.Maxwell PereiraIPS (Retd.)Former Joint Commissioner of Police, Delhi
64.G.K. PillaiIAS (Retd.)Former Home Secretary, GoI
65.Gurnihal Singh PirzadaIAS (Resigned)Former MD, Punjab State Electronic Development & Production Corporation, Govt. of Punjab
66.R. PoornalingamIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, GoI
67.Rajesh PrasadIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to the Netherlands
68.R.M. PremkumarIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
69.N.K. RaghupathyIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Staff Selection Commission, GoI
70.V.P. RajaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission
71.V. Ramani

 

IAS (Retd.)Former Director General, YASHADA, Govt. of Maharashtra

 

72.K. Sujatha RaoIAS (Retd.)Former Health Secretary, GoI
73.Madhukumar Reddy A.IRTS (Retd.)Former Principal Executive Director, Railway Board, GoI
74.Satwant ReddyIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, GoI
75.Julio RibeiroIPS (Retd.)Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Punjab
76.Aruna RoyIAS (Resigned)
77.Manabendra N. RoyIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
78.A.K. SamantaIPS (Retd.)Former Director General of Police (Intelligence), Govt. of West Bengal
79.Deepak SananIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Adviser (AR) to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh
80.G.V. Venugopala SarmaIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Odisha
81.S. SatyabhamaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairperson, National Seeds Corporation, GoI
82.N.C. SaxenaIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Planning Commission, GoI
83.Ardhendu SenIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
84.Abhijit SenguptaIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI
85.Aftab SethIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Japan
86.Ashok Kumar SharmaIFoS (Retd.)Former MD, State Forest Development Corporation, Govt. of Gujarat
87.Ashok Kumar SharmaIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Finland and Estonia
88.Navrekha SharmaIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Indonesia
89.Pravesh SharmaIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh
90.Raju SharmaIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh
91.Rashmi Shukla SharmaIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh
92.Avay ShuklaIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary (Forests & Technical Education), Govt. of Himachal Pradesh
93.Satyavir SinghIRS (Retd.)Former Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, GoI
94.Tara Ajai SinghIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka
95.Tirlochan SinghIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, National Commission for Minorities, GoI
96.A.K. SrivastavaIAS (Retd.)Former Administrative Member, Madhya Pradesh Administrative Tribunal
97.Prakriti SrivastavaIFoS (Retd.)Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests & Special Officer, Rebuild Kerala Development Programme, Govt. of Kerala
98.Anup ThakurIAS (Retd.)Former Member, National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission
99.P.S.S. ThomasIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission
100.Geetha ThoopalIRAS (Retd.)Former General Manager, Metro Railway, Kolkata
101.Rudi WarjriIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica

 


[1]      Please see “‘Love jihad’ drove out Muslims from an Uttarakhand town. In court, it turned out to be a hoax”, Scroll.in, July 17, 2024.

https://scroll.in/article/1070672/love-jihad-drove-out-muslims-from-an-uttarakhand-town-in-court-it-turned-out-to-be-a-hoax

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