I had mailed an open letter to the Supreme Court of India to a leading newspaper in India, but it went unpublished. So, here I share it with you. Do read and post your comments.
To
The Chief Justice of India
Supreme Court
Delhi
India
10th October 2015
Subject: For the sake of India
Respected Sir,
It is with great grief I write you this letter. Like every ordinary, common man of this country, I too had tried to ignore and move on with my affairs, but the recent upheavals and frenzy happening in our country has tested my patience and I have chosen to break my silence, or I have chosen to break the common man’s silence.
We (the common man) have lost faith in all institutions and forms of governance. And who else shall we raise our voices to, rather than the watch dog or guardian of the constitution. The constitution is our last refuge, and we have come to demand justice.
It is after the recent succession of the BJP led government in the center, one has been plighted to read the daily newspaper with the headlines on religious refutations, hatred and differences. A citizen’s identity has become Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jain, Buddhist etc. We would like to remind your Honour, that, our country is secular and has permitted its citizens to follow any religion of his/her choice. Like Marx said, “religion is the opium of the society”-this statement is being proven true in our nation today. It is of deep concern and it is time for the Court to put a ban or fine on leaders for inciting religious statements and provocations for political purposes. The minorities in the country are becoming a victim of these vote-bank politics. One need not reveal his/her religion in/for any affair. Religion should not be a part of one’s identity in a secular state. Not only relogion, even caste has to be removed. BPL and APL is enough recognition to grant one subsidy and privelages. This is a serious issue to be considered, because, it has been observed that some of our brothers forced to carry the tag of SC or ST or whatever names they have been politically named loses their privilege as a BPL when they have embraced the Christian religion. The Court must consider this issue at the earliest because cast and religion is a hinderance to the progress of our country.
We would also like to bring it to the notice of the Court that the so called “Hindutva” faction is causing despair and we anticipate the future with great horror. Aren’t these factions in a way similar to the ISIS terrorist groups in Syria? Here, the difference is that, they demand a Hindu State for India. This can cause great consequences in the future and the country will happen to face bloody wars between the Hindutva faction and the minorities, which some terrorist organisations will perceive as a breeding ground and the result maybe another State of Emergency or partitioning of the country, this we anticipate with terror. Another State of Emergency will not only affect the nation internally but it may also affect the country externally as some neighbouring states are already looking for an opportunity to encroach into our territory. Our question is, “Why such madness at the expense of the innocent? Why cause the downfall of our own country?” We request the Court to disband this faction or any faction with any religious motive, ruling it as a threat to The Country, The Constitution and the Fundamental Rights of the citizens.
We are also aware that freedom of expression is a constitutional right and practically a crime. In the light of the recent series murder of writers, the last being Mr.Kalburgi, we have understood that intellects should leave the country as they are "Pakistani" (according to the Hindutva factions) and are meant to be killed or tortured. And it seems that the government, as well as the Sahithya Akademi are mum to such events. Even the people of letters are capable of paying back in the “eye for an eye” manner but are still holding on to their wits end acknowledging the mobs lack of understanding and education. We would like the country to understand that IT professionals alone cannot make a developed India. A great nation is always built on great literature. The Mob is blindly asked to attack writers and their great works of literature and researches without understanding the value of their hard-work or the depth of our great culture and tradition. We do not blame the mob but the inconspicuous hands of corrupt political leaders who set up such mobs for political gains. We would like the Court to intervene in this matter and protect the rights of the intellects and writers of our country. It is the works of these scholars that still make India Incredible to the outside world. Our country has celebrated its plurality, cultural diversity and religious tolerance-this is a lie that we made the outside world believe. Over and again we have proven Gandhi, Tagore, Vivekananda and their like wrong, and made them the greatest liars of history. If this has to change the mob has to be educated so that they do not fall for the vices of corrupt politicians. After serious contemplation on this issue, we feel that the Court has to reconsider the compulsory education act. Every citizen should not just receive basic education to read and write, but rather get educated enough to think and respond to social issues as well. It would be better if the Court would assign a forum under the leadership of the IAS officers under various constituencies to see into the issue of educating the masses. This, I personally feel will help reach education to every citizen and will promote to the further development of our country. We firmly believe that, the bare necessities of a constitutionally promised, healthy social living can be carried out without the intervention of politicians but by the zeal and assurance of the administrative service and legislature.
We also demand transparency in the assigning of Vice Chancellors of National Universities. The state is answerable to the citizens and students of our country as to how and why somebody has been selected to hold the office. We admonish, it be the Legislature and the President of India's office to assign VC’s rather than vesting this responsibility on the government as every ruling government has a tendency to assign the office in interest of their respective political party.
Another issue of concern is the protection of the rights of artists who come to perform in our country. An artist should be recognised by his works of art and not by his nationality. The afore mentioned factions are unnecessarily creating a hullabaloo over artists hailing from Pakistan, performing in our country. It is true that we have border issues with Pakistan, but why does that mean artists from Pakistan should be viewed with hostility? Creating such differences will/has only even shoo(ed) away international artists from performing in our country. Our celebration of cultural diversity is hence, viewed as disparity.
Finally concerning the meat ban law passed in various states of the country. The food one must eat is his/her human right. The banning of beef is outrageously a non-secular decision of the court presented on secular grounds and the “with respect to the religious sentiments of a few” is an unsatisfactory explanation. One’s food habit is never religious, it is something taught or gained through experience. For instance, your Honour,
A mother decides the amount of sugar to be added to the milk she bottle feeds her child, similarly, she decides the amount of spices she adds to various food she serves her child. As the child grows up there are plenty of food the individual has consumed with and without the knowledge of the mother. If somebody consumes alcohol then it is their choice that they gained through experience and not because the mother taught them to do so. Similarly, one creates one’s own unique food habit.
Moreover the kind of food one consumes also shows his/her mental strength as well. One feels uncomfortable to consume meat because they are mentally incapable of conquering the “thought of uneasiness” while consuming it, because, they are not used to it. Similarly, a meat consuming individual might find having snake flesh uncomfortable, if they are not used to it, because they feel incapable to conquer their mind’s uneasiness. An individual who has conquered the mind finds it easy to consume anything. Also another point I would like to share in the light of the recent ban of beef/meat in Jammu and Kashmir is that, food habit is also dependent on geography and climate as well. The Kashmiri Brahmins consume non-veg food because non-veg helps keep their body warm. Similarly, different areas have its respective food habits pertaining to its geography and climate.
A better way to deal with the meat issue would be to decide on an age after which the animal can be slaughtered or permitting slaughter, if the animal becomes unfit for work and production. The fact that the ban law differs in different states of India, is in itself, evidence enough that the ban law is feeble, unnecessary and a breach of human right to food consumption.
If religious sentiments are the reason for a ban then, we would like to raise a question to the Court that, if we the common people of India follow a religion which states that rice and wheat is god, would the Court put a ban on wheat and rice in order to respect our religious sentiment? The Muslims don’t eat pork, but they don’t go around persecuting Christians who consume pork. The nation should learn to live and let live.
The Dadri lynching incident and legislator Engineer Rashid thrashed by BJP MLA’s inside the Assembly shows that this is not just about consuming beef but it is something more personal and communal. People are set up to take law into their hands and the fact that the MLA’s had the courage to take law and judgement into their own hands inside the Assembly, is evidence enough that their concern is not the wellfare of the people, and that their actions and motives are nothing but sheer terrorism.
This is the first and final letter to the guardian of the constitution and we believe that the watch dog of the constitution is a faithful dog. We believe that we won’t be denied justice on the grounds that Lady Justice is blindfolded to see the truth, or that her balance is unfair or that her sword is to persecute justice or that simply because she is Roman, she too maybe banned in India.
Yours Faithfully
Joe Nathan Brahmaputra
(A common man and
Citizen of India)
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