New Delhi: Alumni of IITs have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying his silence on several concerning issues – like the hate speeches at the Haridwar ‘Dharma Sansad’, the Sulli Deals and Bulli Bai apps and the allegations of organised abuse through the Tek Fog app – is “deeply worrying”.
The statement, signed by more than 100 alumni ranging from the 1962 batch to the 2020 batch, says that the constitution of India embodies the principles of equality, fraternity, justice and liberty. “And yet as we celebrate this legacy in the 75th year of our freedom, we can’t help but notice the dark clouds looming over the country,” it says.
Some of the speakers at the Haridwar congregation, where calls for genocide were made, “had close ties to the party you lead”, the statement to Modi, in which President Ram Nath Kovind is also copied, says.
“Even as a petition on this is with the Honorable Supreme Court, we urge upon you and other leaders of your party and government to condemn this act and initiate swift, meaningful legal action on the perpetrators,” they add.
The statement describes the Sulli Deals and the Bulli Bai apps, which targeted several prominent Indian Muslim women, as a “shameful saga”. The signatories said that the young age of those who have been arrested in the case – an 18-year-old, and a few others in their early and mid-20s – “suggests how deep communal hatred and misogyny is in our society”. “We have been looking forward to you and your government condemning this in the loudest possible voice and reaffirming the country’s faith in its constitution,” they said.
The Tek Fog application, whose details were revealed by The Wire after an extensive investigation, has targeted women in the media with organised abuse, they said. “Reports suggest that this is a psychological ops military-grade weapon and in the hands of mal-intentioned actors, it can have serious security implications. Your condemnation of this alleged weapon is still awaited,” the statement says.
The statement also notes that former chiefs of the Armed forces and alumni and faculty members of IIMs have already written to the prime minister about these issues. “Your decisive action is keenly awaited on these alarming trends to divide India,” the signatories conclude.
The full statement, with the list of signatories, is reproduced below.
§
12 January 2022
Honorable Prime Minister of India, PMO
New Delhi
Cc: The Honorable President of India, Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi
Subject: Your silence is deeply worrying
Dear Honorable Prime Minister Shri Modiji,
As we write this on the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, we remember his words, “I am proud to belong to a religion that has taught the world tolerance and universal acceptance. We not only believe in universal tolerance but accept all religions to be true”. Mahatma Gandhi famously appreciated this quality of Hinduism: “Its freedom from dogma makes a forcible appeal to me in as much as it gives the votary the largest scope for self-expression”.
We remain proud inheritors of this legacy and indeed the preamble to the Constitution of our country embodies this spirit in its founding principles of Equality, Fraternity, Justice and Liberty.
And yet as we celebrate this legacy in the 75th year of our freedom, we can’t help but notice the dark clouds looming over the country. As the country valiantly battles the challenges from the never ending Covid-19, the sharply rising unemployment and masses of people being pushed into poverty, we are now faced with the grave danger from rising calls for genocide of one community. On Dec 24th 2021, the NY times reported, “Even by the standards of the rising anti- Muslim fury in India, the three-day conference in the city of Haridwar, 150 miles north of New Delhi, produced the most blatant and alarming call for violence in recent years”. The report further alleged that the leaders of this congregation that made these calls for genocide, had close ties to the party you lead. Even as a petition on this is with the Honorable Supreme Court, we urge upon you and other leaders of your party and government to condemn this act and initiate swift, meaningful legal action on the perpetrators.
Concurrent with the above events is the shameful saga behind the creation of the Sulli Deals and the Bulli Bai app, where several prominent Indian Muslim women with independent voices, have found their pictures and profiles being put online and virtual auctions being held on them. The UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Fernand de Varennes, has referred to it as harassment and has called for condemnation and prosecution. The ages of the youngsters who have been apprehended as suspects, suggests how deep communal hatred and misogyny is in our society. Here again, we have been looking forward to you and your government condemning this in the loudest possible voice and reaffirming the country’s faith in its Constitution.
The Wire recently broke a story on Tek Fog, an app that is alleged to manipulate online trends and automate hate. Independent women voices in the media have been the principal targets of this organized abuse. Reports suggest that this is a Psychological Ops military grade weapon and in the hands of mal-intentioned actors, it can have serious security implications. Your condemnation of this alleged weapon is still awaited.
A recent letter from the former Chiefs of Armed Forces addressed to your good self as well as the Honorable President of India, speaks on these disturbing communal trends. The letter emphasizes, amid the backdrop of the forthcoming elections, “We urge you to kindly take serious note and suitable action to ensure that the sanctity of the electoral process is maintained and that all such calls inciting violence against one or other community, are dealt with firmly. As a former service man, I am deeply concerned about the direct impact of such actions on National Security – both External and Internal. The consequences for the social fabric of India and the overall well-being of our citizens are serious indeed. The country looks to you, especially in the important position you hold, of safeguarding our democratic norms and the Constitution of India.”
Our friends, students and faculty of the Indian Institutes of Management have also in their letter to you, underscored their concern on your silence. They wrote, “Your silence on the rising intolerance in our country, Honorable Prime Minister, is disheartening to all of us who value the multicultural fabric of our country. Your silence, Honorable Prime Minister, emboldens the hate-filled voices and threatens the unity and integrity of our country.”
You have spoken frequently on India’s demographic dividend. Your speech today while inaugurating the National Youth Festival is timely. Your exact words were, “India’s demography is young, and the mind of India is also young. There is youth in India’s potential, and in its dreams. India is young in its thoughts as well as in its consciousness. India’s youths are writing the code of global prosperity. The mantra of New India – Compete and Conquer. Get involved and win. Unite and win the battle.”
To unite and win the battle, the Constitution must be upheld. Your decisive action is keenly awaited on these alarming trends to divide India.
Jai Hind.
Signed by,
Satya Talwar, IIT Bombay, 1962
Gurkirat Singh Ahluwalia, IIT Bombay, 1967
H.S.Juneja, IIT Bombay, 1967
Abdul Subhan, IIT Bombay, 1969
Surendran K K, IIT Bombay, 1972
Ali Contractor, IIT Bombay, 1973
Angeli Surendran, IIT Bombay, 1973
Joeman Thomas, IIT Bombay, 1974
Bhupinder Sabharwal, IIT Kharagpur, 1974
Dr. Koyar Rane, IIT Bombay, 1976
Dhananjay Mahajan, IIT Bombay, 1977
Geeta Mahajan, IIT Bombay, 1978
Prajval Shastri, IIT Bombay, 1979
Sandhya Gokhale, IIT Bombay, 1979
Pramod Kumar Joshi, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, 1979
Subhash, IT BHU, 1979
Sabir Mashraqui, IIT Bombay, 1979
Akhlesh Lakhtakia, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, 1979
Nitin Borwankar, IIT Bombay, 1980
Shekhar Phatak, IIT Bombay, 1980
Bhupen Kharawala, IIT Bombay, 1980
Janat Shah, IIT Bombay, 1980
Anil Gajwani, IIT Bombay, 1980
Nitin Deshpande, IIT Bombay, 1980
Revathi Kasturi, IIT Bombay, 1980
Rekha, IIT Bombay, 1980
Rajeev Joshi, IIT Bombay, 1981
Ashok Raman, IIT Bombay, 1981
Rema Kandaramath, IIT Bombay, 1981
Ranjini Warrier, IIT Bombay, 1981
Laiqahmed S Mombasawala, IIT Bombay, 1982
Pradeep Meshram, IIT Bombay, 1982
Soumitra Banerjee, IIT Bombay, 1982
Ashok Kumar Das, IIT Bombay,1982
Shashank Shah, IIT Bombay, 1982
Sham Alone, IIT Bombay, 1982
R Vasudevan, IIT Bombay, 1982
Tara Banerjee, IIT Bombay, 1982
R Ravi, IIT Delhi, 1982
Vijaya Rao Verma, IIT Bombay, 1982
Girish Bhave, IIT Bombay, 1984
Sharadchandra Lele, IIT Bombay, 1984
Sunil Jagtiani, IIT Bombay, 1984
Atul Verma, IIT Bombay, 1985
Tarun Bhagattjee, IIT Bombay, 1985
Sunderarajan Venkatavaradan, IIT Bombay, 1986
Venkatesh Sundaram, PhD, IIT Bombay, 1986
Chayanika Shah, IIT Bombay, 1986
Shaibani Azam, IIT Bombay, 1986
Rajesh Darak, IIT-BHU, 1986
Deepti Pradhan, IIT Bombay, 1986
B V Ajay, IT-BHU, 1986
Balachandra Iyer, IIT Varanasi, 1986
Chandru Chawla, IIT Bombay 1987
Sriram Krishnaswami, IIT Madras, 1987
Mohammed Shadbar Qureshi, IIT Bombay, 1988
Veena Devasthali, IIT Bombay, 1988
Sundar Mudaliar, IIT Bombay, 1990
Sudhama Gopalan, IIT Bombay, 1990
Devesh Khatu, IIT Bombay, 1990
Amir Khan, IIT Bombay, 1990
Sriganesh Madhvanath, IIT Bombay, 1990
Shree Sridhar, IIT Madras, 1990
Umesh Malhotra, IIT Madras, 1990
P.S. Ramakrishna, IIT Bombay, 1991
Radhika, IIT Madras, 1992
Pratap Tambe, IIT Bombay, 1992
Ranjeet Ranade, IIT Bombay, 1992
Shahab Haider, IIT Bombay, 1992
Radha Gopalan, IIT Bombay, 1992
Anis Saif, IIT Bombay, 1993
Prashant Dogra, IIT Kharagpur, 1994
Sachin Patwardhan, IIT Bombay, 1994
Garima Bhatia, IIT Bombay, 1995
Shubha Ramachandran, IIT Bombay, 1996
Shirish Waghulde, PhD, IIT Bombay, 1996
Krishna Ramaswamy, IIT Bombay, 1997
Sahana Murthy, IIT Bombay, 1997
Zenobia Driver, IIT Bombay, 1998
Rajasekhar Jammalamadaka, IIT Bombay, 1999
Akshay Mishra, IIT Bombay, 2001
Vaibhav Vaish, IIT Kanpur, 2004
Bindhulakshmi Pattadath, IIT Bombay, 2007
Siddharth Joshi, IIT Bombay, 2007
Rupal Agarwal, IIT Bombay, 2007
Ruchika Agrawal, IIT Bombay, 2009
Brijesh Rai, IIT Bombay, 2010
Abhijit Majumder, IIT Kanpur, 2010
Pranav Jeevan P , IIT Kanpur, 2015
Pratik Sonone, IIT Bombay, 2015
Ronica Roopak, IIT Bombay, 2016
Saravanan V, IIT Gandhinagar, 2016
Rohini Karandikar, IIT Bombay, 2016
Kunal, IIT Bombay, 2019
Nishant Chhandak, IIT Bombay, 2019
Mayur Ramteke, IIT Bombay, 2019
Nikhil Jaiswal, IIT Bombay, 2020
Arindam Roy, IIT Kharagpur, 2020
Nawang Yolmo, IIT Bombay, 2020
Nima Stanzin, IIT Bombay, 2020
Harsh Kumar Wagadre, IIT Bombay, 2020
Kaniska , IIT Bombay, 2023
Ankit Raj, IIT Bombay, 2023
Milind Raj, IIT Bombay
Anees, IIT Ropar
Featured image: India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends a meeting during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain, November 2, 2021. Photo: Reuters/Phil Noble/Pool
This article was first published on The Wire.