Letter politics: Close on heels of CCG letter, group of former bureaucrats, army officers support Modi govt

Days after a group of retired bureaucrats and judges shot off an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi questioning his silence on “violence against Muslims” in BJP-ruled states, a group of 197 retired bureaucrats, army officers and judges have come out in Modi govt’s support.

Castigating those who have been critical to the present regime as those “who draw attention to themselves as citizens with higher sense of social purpose”, the pro-Modi group, in an open letter, claimed that the reality is opposite to what is being portrayed.

“This is a way for them to release their frustration that public opinion remains solidly behind Prime Minister Modi as recent state elections have shown,” they were quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The pro-Modi group said that those who opposed Modi feel that they can shape the public opinion against Modi.

It said that the CCG’s letter did not speak about post-poll violence in West Bengal. “Studied silence of so-called CCG on unprecedented post-poll violence in West Bengal. It lays bare their cynical and unprincipled approach to issues,” reads the letter.

It is worth recalling here that a group of former civil servants on April 26 wrote an open letter to the PM under the banner of Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), highlighting the increased hatred and communal violence in BJP-ruled states.

“The escalation of hate violence against the minority communities, particularly Muslims, in the last few years and months across several States – Assam, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, all states in which the BJP is in power, barring Delhi (where the Union government controls the police) – has acquired a frightening new dimension,” they wrote.

Saying that “your (PM Modi’s silence) silence is deafening”, the over 100 ex-bureaucrats had appealed Modi to end the politics of hate.

The letter further stated that “the hate and malevolence directed against Muslims seemed to have embedded itself deep in the recesses of the structures, institutions and processes of governance in the states in which the BJP is in power”.

Interestingly, the pro-Modi group claimed that instances of major communal violence had palpably decreased under the BJP government.

“The CCG should not give ideological cover to an anti-national outlook as well as religious and left-wing extremism, which they seem to do,” it said.

“We, the Concerned Citizens, condemn the sordid manipulations of the vested interests and urge all right-thinking citizens to expose them to preserve the unity and integrity of our great nation,” the letter said.