New Delhi: Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, over 200 writers from across the country have appealed to Indian citizens to caste their votes in favour of a “diverse and equal India”, and help eliminate the politics of hate.
In an open letter published on the Indian Cultural Forum, writers including Girish Karnad, Arundhati Roy, Amitav Ghosh, Nayantara Sahgal, and Romila Thapar said hate politics was being used to divide the country, create fear and increasingly exclude more number of people from living as “full-fledged citizens”.
“Writers, artists, filmmakers, musicians and other cultural practitioners have been hounded, intimidated, and censored.
“Anyone who questions the powers-that-be is in danger of being harassed or arrested on false and ridiculous charges. All of us want this to change … The first step, the one we can take soon, is to vote out hate politics … and this is why we appeal to all citizens to vote for a diverse and equal India,” the statement read.
According to the letter the country was at “crossroads” in the wake of the impending polls, and urged all Indians to support the idea of a nation that renewed the “promises made by the Constitution”.
“Constitution guarantees all its citizens equal rights, the freedom to eat, pray and live as they choose, freedom of expression and the right to dissent. But in the last few years, we have seen citizens being lynched or assaulted or discriminated against because of their community, caste, gender, or the region they come from,” it read.
The writers said they didn’t want rationalists, writers and activists to be hounded or assassinated, and demanded “stern measures against violence in word or deed against women, dalits, adivasis and minority communities”.
“We want resources and measures for jobs, education, research, healthcare and equal opportunities for all. Most of all, we want to safeguard our diversity and let democracy flourish,” said the letter that was published in English, Hindi, as well as regional languages including Marathi, Gujarati, Urdu, Bangla, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu.
Last month, a group of 103 indie filmmakers including Anand Patwardhan, Sanal Kumar Sasidharan and Devashish Makhija also came together to issue an appeal to “defeat fascism” in the 2019 elections.
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Self professed Thekedars of democracy and love. Only they know what is right for the country. Rest all are supposed to be uneducated buffoons.
Peace and harmony are bad words and anti national.
Where these so called secular intellectuals were there when his favorite leader was glorifying ‘bharat tere tukde honge..’ gang,when supreme court was forced to hear the case of a terroris,When dynasty based political parties are piling up huge wealth ?Was india not in danger at that time? What’s their contribution in making inda a glorified nation? They are actually suffering from their own insecurity complex. Let Indian down these selfish people, particularly at the time of this general election .Let us cast more and more number of vote in favour of the party for whom India is always at the top.
How about wanting to “vote out” corrupt and dynastic politics? Is it not important to that, instead?
As far as Arundhati Roy is concerned, and purely going by her literary merit- I do not consider her to be a writer.
Regarding Romila Thapar, the who largely deviated from the original role of Historian (ie to tell SAGA of India ) to moulding History for the glorification of one community and one family. In my view, Romila Thapar in her own imagination is in deep love with MUGHLIA SULTANATE.
So, if they are the doyens who are supporting opposition then opposition is destined to doom.
Why these writers writing a letter instead of books? They have their best years behind them and are well past their “sell by date”. This probably is their most creative way to get 15 minutes of glory.
200 writers aur unke chitti ko maro goli. The writing is clear on the wall “unpadh logon ka Bhilai yahi Nara hain “sirf is baar nahin 2029 tak wapas, wapas Modi sarkar “. Agar saach much independent and free press kehlate ho to is post ko chapwaoge.
Who are these writers? No sensible citizen read their articles any more. They exist as “ nation haters” for Indian citizens. They are no different than the “subject matter” about which they have written about. Just because they have some contacts and an willing media , they have come to limelight. Do these writers other than having anti India rhetoric any fruitful suggestions to their credit to prove to the world that they are worthy of being called “proud citizens” having national interest. The coinage “jis desh ke namaak khate hain usi desh for kichad uchhalte hain “ applies to these writers .