Prasoon Joshi, Kangana Ranaut and 60 others say “self-styled guardians and conscience keepers of the nation” were silent earlier

Three days after 49 eminent persons wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about incidents of lynching and use of the slogan “Jai Shree Ram” as a “war cry”, 62 others reacted sharply today against the letter and accused them of “selective concern and a clear political bias”.

In an open letter, 62 persons including Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Prasoon Joshi, actor Kangana Ranaut, filmmakers Madhur Bhandarkar, Vivek Agnihotri, classical dancer and Rajya Sabha member Sonal Mansingh wrote that the letter was deliberately written to negatively portray Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s untiring efforts by 49 “self-styled ‘guardians’ and conscience keepers’ of the nation”.

“To us, the undersigned, this document of selective outrage comes across as an attempt to foist a FALSE NARRATIVE with the intention of denigrating the democratic ethos and norms of collective functioning as a nation and people. It is aimed at tarnishing India’s international standing and to negatively portray Prime Minister Modi’s untiring efforts to effectuate governance on the foundation of positive nationalism and humanism which is the core of INDIANNESS.

“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 to burn schools in Kashmir, they have kept silent when the demand for dismembering India were made…” the letter continued.

The earlier letter written by 49 eminent personalities includes Aparna Sen, Shyam Benegal, Binayak Sen, Anurag Kashyap, Ramchandra Guha, Soumitra Chattopadhyay, Kaushik Sen and others.

The signatories in the new letter also attacked the 49 eminent persons for criticising the government, arguing that “… in fact under the Modi regime we see maximum liberty to differ, to criticise and to abuse the government and dispensation in power – the spirit of dissent has never been stronger”.

The earlier letter has said that “Regrettably, ‘Jai Shri Ram’ has become a provocative ‘war-cry’ today that leads to law and order problems, and many lynchings take place in its name. It is shocking that so much violence should be perpetrated in the name of religion! These are not the Middle Ages!”. According to the letter, “There is no democracy without dissent. People should not be branded ‘anti-national’ or ‘urban Naxal’ and incarcerated because of dissent against the government.”

Disagreeing with this sentiment, the new letter by the 62 others said that “… in fact under the Modi regime we see maximum liberty to differ, to criticise and to abuse the government and dispensation in power – the spirit of dissent has never been stronger”.