Filmmakers Anurag Kashyap, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Mani Ratnam, Shyam Benegal actors Konkana Sen and Aparna Sen are among 49 eminent filmmakers and artists who have sent an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, raising concerns on the increasing intolerance against dissent in the country. The letter also raises concerns over lynchings of minorities and the misuse of the phrase 'Jai Shri Ram'.
The letter quotes NCRB numbers of lynchings, and also numbers reported by The Citizen's Religious Hate-Crime Watch. The letter also criticises the Narendra Modi and his government's inaction against the offenders.
“'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 be perpetrated in the name of religion! These are not the Middle Ages,” the letter stated.
The letter also stated that there is no democracy without dissent. “People should not be branded 'anti-national' or 'urban Naxal' and incarcerated because of dissent against the government.”
“An open environment where dissent is not crushed, only makes for a stronger nation,” the letter concluded.
