An Open Letter

We are a group of retired civil servants who came together last year because of our concern
over what we saw as an alarming decline in the secular, democratic, and liberal values
enshrined in our Constitution. As citizens who have had a close association with issues of
public policy and governance and the administering of our Constitution, we felt it was
necessary to speak out against the rise in authoritarian and majoritarian tendencies, the
abuse of political power and the increasing disregard of constitutional values. We have
issued several Open Letters (sometimes in concert with a group of retired veterans of the
Armed Forces) and have also together with the veterans organized Conclaves on several
issues of public interest. As a group, we are resolutely committed to constitutional values
and principles, and are non-political, whatever the political preferences of individual
members might be.

We feel compelled to write an Open Letter once again, - in what we perceive as the most
brazen display yet of coercive authority by the State.

The arrests of Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Vernon Gonsalves, Varavara Rao and
Arun Ferreira and the raids on the residences of Stan Swamy, Kranti Tekula, Naseem and
Anand Teltumbde, all of whom have been in the forefront of the struggle for justice for
Adivasis, Dalits, Muslims, members of the working class and women and children (a struggle
which has been a continuing one irrespective of which Government has been in power) have
been the trigger. They have always used lawful and democratic means in their efforts, and
this series of arrests shows how wilful and arbitrary the State is to intimidate and silence
any signs of dissent and democratic resistance.

Earlier Shoma Sen, Rona Wilson, Mahesh Raut , Surendra Gadling and Sudhir Dhawale were
also arrested under the same charges for inciting violence in the context of Bhima Koregaon,
and the same incident.

The use of draconian laws, which deny access and circumscribe the ability of those arrested
to access protection of their fundamental rights is completely unjustified. The imposition of
this law is a circumvention of the normal processes and allows the flimsiest of evidence to
frame charges and arrest those who are politically inconvenient and may threaten powerful
commercial interests complicit with the State. It is patently obvious that the objective is to
create a climate of fear to deter those in civil society who are critical of the Government’s
treatment of Dalits, Adivasis and other marginalised and dispossessed groups and may be
inclined to take up cudgels on their behalf.

The excuse for such action hinges on a fabricated tale of a “terror” plot against a high
functionary in which these allegedly “urban Naxals” play a role. Incidents quoted refer to
the Elgar Parishad held earlier in the year in Pune, of which the highly respected Justice P.B.
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Sawant (former Supreme Court Judge and Chairman of the Press Council) was a key
organizer. The vagueness of the allegations, the manner and the timing of the arrests, the
choice of the persons arrested (none of whom were a part of the Bhima Koregaon incident),
the use of a law which has lower standards of evidence required for establishing a ‘prima
facie’ case, all go to show the insidiousness of the intent. The evidence in the public domain
against those arrested appears to be incredible. This is shameful.

The charges made against these respected human rights defenders and intellectuals – as
broadcast by compliant sections of the media - is that they are supporters of subversive
violence, applying to them the newly minted tag of the ‘urban Naxalite’, alleged to be city-
based middle-class supporters of Maoist insurgents. That this tag has been applied to a
group of persons who have always used lawful and democratic means in their efforts is an
example of how wilful and arbitrary the State can be in quelling any signs of dissent and
democratic resistance.

It is evident that these arrests follow a pattern designed by the current dispensation to tag
any dissident or critical intellectual activity as anti-national or seditious or supportive of
secession and terrorism. Ironically, while a ‘Maoist sympathiser’ is treated as a dangerous
terrorist who needs to be incarcerated, a sympathiser of Bajrang Dal or Sanatan Sansthan or
Hindu Mahasabha, who flaunts the agenda of violence and hate, is seen as pursuing a
worthwhile national cause. Coming from a political culture where ministers and legislators
who fete and celebrate murder convicts and perpetrators of mob violence are given political
support and patronage, this perversion of principles is sickening.

None of us is a supporter of Naxalism or the violent ideology it represents. In fact, as

Ramachandra Guha, an eminent public intellectual, historian and a scholar of Gandhi, said in
an interview to NDTV, the persons arrested have never preached violence and instead
always upheld the rule of law as enshrined in the Constitution. Many of the activists
arrested now and earlier in June this year are lawyers, who in representing Adivasis whose
rights to natural resources and livelihoods stand expropriated or threatened, have bravely
stood against the joint might of the State and its “corporate cronies”. Their record is
exemplary and their focus has been unwavering, whether the government was of the
Congress or the BJP. For such persons to be charged as instigators of extremist violence is a
deliberate official falsehood foisted to damage their reputations, and is truly bizarre and
Kafkaesque.
Prime Minister, we know that this, our letter of protest and condemnation, will be given
short shrift and we will be told, yet again, that the law must be allowed to take its course.
The question, Prime Minister, is of those who govern and misuse the law for promoting
partisan politics at the cost of justice; and that must also stand the test of public
accountability and the scrutiny of evidence. The refuge that law and order is a State subject,
and that the Union has no role, is not convincing enough as the opinions that have led to
these arrests have been built up deliberately by a series of statements in the public domain
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by the current establishment. Yet, Prime Minister, we know that you have the political
authority to give suitable directions to a BJP Chief Minister to withdraw the cases and we
also know that should it so choose, the Union Government has the constitutional authority
to issue appropriate advisories and directives, which have been used many times in your
period as PM for a variety of reasons. As the prime executive authority for administering the
Constitution, we hope that you will not permit the brazen trampling of the Fundamental
Rights of those who work to protect the rights of the poor and the dispossessed.
The Court of course will have to take a view on the legality and the legitimacy of the arrests.
But the onus for the administration of the law vests with the union and the state
governments. These arrests could not have been made without their prior sanction. As the
Head of the Government, we expect nothing less from you than an absolute commitment to
upholding the core values of democracy and the principles of justice and fairness. It is time
that your party and your government show their determination to stand by and protect our
Constitution. Should you choose to ignore our letter, we will know how hollow that
commitment is and demonstrate once again your willingness to crush public dissent,
especially that which defends the rights of the country’s disadvantaged castes and classes,
with the misuse of state agencies and coercive laws.

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List of signatories

Sl.No. Name Service Last

post/designation
before
retirement
1. Anita Agnihotri IAS (Retd.) Former
Secretary,
Ministry of Social
Justice and
Empowerment,
GoI
2. Vappala IPS (Retd.) Former Special
Balachandran Secretary,
Cabinet
Secretariat, GoI
3. Gopalan IAS (Retd.) Former Special
Balagopal Secretary, Govt.
of West Bengal
4. Chandrashekhar IAS (Retd.) Former
Balakrishnan Secretary, Coal,
GoI
5. Meeran C IPS (Retd.) Former DGP,
Borwankar Bureau of Police
Research and
Development,
GoI
6. Sundar Burra IAS (Retd.) Former
Secretary, Govt.
of Maharashtra
7. Som Chaturvedi IRTS Former
(Retd.) Additional
Member, Railway
Board, GoI
8. Kalyani IAS (Retd.) Former
Chaudhuri Additional Chief
Secretary, Govt.
of West Bengal
9. Javid IAS (Retd.) Former Health
Chowdhury Secretary, GoI
10. Anna Dani IAS (Retd.) Former
Additional Chief
Secretary, Govt.
of Maharashtra
11. Surjit K. Das IAS (Retd.) Former Chief
Secretary, Govt. 4
of Uttarakhand
12. Vibha Puri Das IAS (Retd.) Former
Secretary,
Ministry of Tribal
Affairs, GoI
13. Nareshwar IFS (Retd.) Former
Dayal Secretary,
Ministry of
External Affairs
and High
Commissioner to
the United
Kingdom
14. Nitin Desai IES (Retd.) Former Secretary
and Chief
Economic
Adviser, Ministry
of Finance, GoI
15. Keshav Desiraju IAS (Retd.) Former Health
Secretary, GoI
16. M.G. IAS (Retd.) Former
Devasahayam Secretary, Govt.
of Haryana
17. Sushil Dubey IFS (Retd.) Former
Ambassador to
Sweden
18. Meena Gupta IAS (Retd.) Former
Secretary,
Ministry of
Environment &
Forests, GoI
19. Ravi Vira Gupta IAS (Retd.) Former Deputy
Governor,
Reserve Bank of
India
20. Sajjad Hassan IAS (Retd.) Former
Commissioner
(Planning), Govt.
of Manipur
21. Dr. M.A. IAS (Retd.) Former Chief
Ibrahimi Secretary (rank),
Govt. of Bihar
22. Ajai Kumar Indian Former Director,
Forest Ministry of
Service Agriculture, GoI
(Retd.)
23. Arun Kumar IAS (Retd.) Former
Chairman,
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 National
Pharmaceutical
Pricing Authority,
GoI
24. Harsh Mander IAS (Retd.) Govt. of Madhya
Pradesh

25. Lalit Mathur IAS (Retd.) Former Director

General, National
Institute of Rural
Development,
GoI
26. Aditi Mehta IAS (Retd.) Former
Additional Chief
Secretary, Govt.
of Rajasthan
27. Sonalini IFS GoI
Mirchandani (Resigned)
28. Sunil Mitra IAS (Retd.) Former
Secretary,
Ministry of
Finance, GoI
29. Deb Mukharji IFS (Retd.) Former High
Commissioner to
Bangladesh and
Ambassador to
Nepal
30. Pranab S. IAS (Retd.) Former Director,
Mukhopadhyay Institute of Port
Management,
GoI
31. Sobha IAS (Retd.) Former Principal
Nambisan Secretary
(Planning), Govt.
of Karnataka
32. Amitabha IAS (Retd.) Former
Pande Secretary, Inter-
State Council,
GoI
33. Niranjan Pant IA&AS Former Deputy
(Retd.) Comptroller &
Auditor General
of India
34. Alok Perti IAS (Retd.) Former
Secretary,
Ministry of Coal,
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 GoI

35. N.K. IAS (Retd.) Former

Raghupathy Chairman, Staff
Selection
Commission, GoI
36. K. Sujatha Rao IAS (Retd.) Former Health
Secretary, GoI
37. M.Y. Rao IAS (Retd.)
38. Prasadranjan IAS (Retd.) Former
Ray Chairperson,
West Bengal
Electricity
Regulatory
Commission
39. Aruna Roy IAS
(Resigned)
40. Umrao Salodia IAS (Retd.) Former
Chairman,
Rajasthan Road
Transport
Corporation,
Govt. of
Rajasthan
41. Deepak Sanan IAS (Retd.) Former Principal
Adviser (AR) to
Chief Minister,
Govt. of
Himachal
Pradesh

42. N.C. Saxena IAS (Retd.) Former

Secretary,
Planning
Commission, GoI
43. Ardhendu Sen IAS (Retd.) Former Chief
Secretary, Govt.
of West Bengal
44. Abhijit IAS (Retd.) Former
Sengupta Secretary,
Ministry of
Culture, GoI
45. Raju Sharma IAS (Retd.) Former Member,
Board of
Revenue, Govt.
of Uttar Pradesh

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46. Jawhar Sircar IAS (Retd.) Former
Secretary,
Ministry of
Culture, GoI, &
CEO, Prasar
Bharati
47. Dr. K.S. IPS (Retd.) Former Director
Subramanian General, State
Institute of
Public
Administration &
Rural
Development,
Govt. of Tripura
48. Hindal Tyabji IAS (Retd.) Chief Secretary
rank, Govt. of
Jammu &
Kashmir