New Delhi: A group of intellectuals, political leaders, social activists and concerned citizens from Uttarakhand has written to governor Gurmeet Singh, requesting him to order the arrest of those who incited violence against minorities through their speeches made at Haridwar Dharma Sansad held between December 17 and 19, 2021.Highlighting that there has been a steady rise in mob violence from 2017 when BJP acquired power in the state, the signatories of the letter said, “The government has [since] remained a mute spectator to violent incidents. This leads one to the natural conclusion that the state government wants to send a message that minorities, and indeed anyone, who do not agree with the ideology of the BJP cannot expect their lives to be safe in the state.”Touching upon various attacks on churches in the recent past in the state, the signatories called for action against those seeking to incite violence and hate in the state. They also urged the governor to instruct the chief minister and senior officers to immediately announce that anyone seeking to spread violence will face immediate prosecution, regardless of their political, religious or social affiliations.They also appealed to the governor to immediately enforce the directions of the Supreme Court on mob violence, which were made during a judgment in July 2018.This is the first such statement to have also been signed by members of opposition political parties, including the Congress, Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party.Reproduced below is the full text of the letter and the list of signatories.§His Excellency the Governor of UttarakhandRaj BhavanDehradunSubject: Need for immediate action against efforts to spread violence and destroy social peace in the state.Dear Sir,We are intellectuals, political leaders, social activists and other concerned citizens of Uttarakhand. We wish to bring to your notice that there are activities taking place in our state that threaten the lives of citizens, the security of the country and the centuries-old culture of this state.Sir, from December 17 to 19, a programme called the “Dharam Sansad” took place in Haridwar which was a threat to peace and security. This has been stated not only by us but by the country’s foremost security experts. Former Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Arun Prakash; former Chief of Army Staff General Ved Malik; former DGP of Uttar Pradesh Vikram Singh; and the former DGP of Kerala NC Asthana have condemned this event and demanded to know if the state government’s lack of action with respect to this event means the government wishes to support such criminal activities.On January 1, through an open letter, former DGP of Haryana Vikas Narayan Rai, former IG of Police (Uttar Pradesh) SR Darapuri, former DGP of Uttar Pradesh Vibhuti Narayan Rai and former IPS officer (Uttar Pradesh) Vijay Shankar Singh pointed out that the organisers of this event openly aimed to spread terror. As such not only their actions but those of the government itself are a direct threat to the lives of Indians and to national security. They also mentioned that after 2017 the state has seen a rising level of mob violence. The government has remained a mute spectator to these violent incidents. This leads one to the natural conclusion that the state government wants to send a message that minorities, and indeed anyone, who does not agree with the ideology of the BJP, cannot expect their lives to be safe in the state.There can be no greater activity against the Constitution and our country than this. We wish to also remind you that in 2017 and 2018, for the first time in the history of our state, mob attacks took place in Satpuli, Mussoorie, Araghar, Kirtinagar, Haridwar, Raiwala, Kotdwar, Chamba, Augustyamuni, Doiwala, Ghansali, Ramnagar and other places. Members of minorities were subject to accusations, beaten, and had their shops broken and burned. The office of an opposition party was also attacked in a similar way. But no action was taken against those responsible for these violent crimes. Indeed as recently as October 3rd a church was attacked in Roorkee and four people were seriously injured. Till date, no one has even been arrested for this attack.Given this background, the calls for violence and genocide that took place in the program in Haridwar cannot be seen as mere speeches. They were acts of criminal incitement.Such activities, and the creation of an atmosphere of fear and terror, cannot be accepted – not in this state, and not in any corner of this country. Uttarakhand has always been a peaceful state. The people of this state have always valued the traditions of democracy and secularism. The ruling party’s communal polarisation efforts and hatemongering are an attack not only on minorities and on our Constitution, but on the traditions and culture of our state.You are the guardian of the Constitution in Uttarakhand. Hence we request you that, in accordance with the advice of the country’s security experts, you immediately direct the state government to:– Immediately arrest those who incited violence at the event in Haridwar, and proceed against them with the full force of the law– Take action against all those seeking to incite violence and hate in the state– Have the Chief Minister and senior officers immediately announce that anyone seeking to spread violence will face immediate prosecution, regardless of their political, religious or social affiliations– Immediately implement the directions of the Supreme Court in its July 2018 judgment on mob violence.Sincerely,Retired officers of the government and the armed forcesSS Pangti, IAS (retd) and president, Uttarakhand Loktantrik MorchaGeneral Shailendra Raja Bahuguna (retd)Lt. Gen. Gambhir Singh Negi (retd)Col. Yashpal Singh Negi (retd), Pauri GarhwalGyanchand Yadav, DSP (retd), Uttarakhand PoliceAjay Sonkar, IRS (retd)Political leadersKashi Singh Airy, president, Uttarakhand Kranti DalSurendra Agarwal, state vice president, CongressSamar Bhandari, state secretary, CPIDr SN Sachan, state president, Samajwadi PartySurendra Sajwan, member, state secretariat, CPI(M)PC Tiwari, president, Uttarakhand Parivartan PartyIndresh Maikhuri, Garhwal secretary, CPI(ML) LiberationRakesh Pant, state convenor, Trinamool CongressSocial organisations and activistsRajiv Lochan Sah, President – Uttarakhand Lok VahiniKamla Pant, President; and Geeta Gairola – Uttarakhand Mahila ManchShankar Gopal, Vinod Badoni, Sunita Devi, Ashok Kumar, Prabhu Pandit, Pappu, Ramu Soni, Sanjay, Rajesh, and others – Chetna AndolanPC Thapliyal – Uttarakhand Loktantrik MorchaAshok Sharma, Secretary – AITUC UttarakhandLekhraj, State Secretary – CITUSatish Dhaulakhandi – Jan Samvad Samiti UttarakhandIndu Naudiyal – AIDWA UttarakhandAranya Ranjan – Janjagruti Sansthan TehriSaddam Qureishi, Vice President – Muslim Seva SangathanUma Bhatt and Kamlesh Khantwal – Bharat Gyan Vigyan SamitiKavita Krishnapallavi – AnveshaBhoopal – Krantikari Lok Adhikar SangathanVasanti Pathak – Uttarakhand Mahila Manch, NainitalMallika Virdi – Sarpanch, Sarmoli Van PanchayatAll members of Uttarakhand Mahila Manch, MunsiyariBiju Negi – Hind Swaraj ManchKaushalya – Mahila Ekta Manch, RamnagarDr. Amarjeet Kaur – President, Sada Virsa Sadi Shan, DehradunSheila Rajveer – Mahila Manch, NainitalPreeti Thapliyal – Mahila ManchZahur Aalam – Yugmanch, NainitalMohit Dimri – Jan Adhikar Manch, RudraprayagAnkit Uchholi – former President, Students’ Union, Garhwal UniversityGajendra Verma, secretary – Vatayan SansthanBhargav Chandola – social activistRakesh Agarwal – social activistUsha Naudiyal – social activistPrem Bahukhandi – social activistSonia Nautiyal Gairola – social activistSudarshan Juyal – social activistHimanshu Kumar – social activistShailendra Bhandari – social activistIntellectuals, Writers, Journalists and OthersDr. Shekhar Pathak – Professor (retd), Kumaon University, NainitalSubhash Pant – AuthorDr. Jiten Bharati – AuthorRajesh Saklani – PoetDr. Rajesh Pal – PoetSudha Arora – AuthorNaveen Joshi – former editor, Hindustan, and senior journalistFeroze Khan – Author and PoetVijay Gaur – Samvedana, DehradunJagmohan Rautela – senior journalist, Yugvani, DehradunMahipal Singh – senior journalist, TehriManmeet – senior journalist, Baramasa ChannelSuresh Uniyal – AuthorAjay Brahmatma – senior journalist, MumbaiPriyadarshan – senior journalist, NDTVShankar Singh Bhatia – senior journalistPrem Pancholi – senior journalistSeema Azaad – Dastak newspaper, AllahabadTrilochan Bhatt – senior journalistShahid Akhtar – senior journalist, DelhiNeelkanth Bhatt – senior journalist, ChamoliAmrita Shireen – senior journalist, Mukti newspaperShyam Singh Rawat – senior journalist, Lalkuan, NainitalSanjay Joshi – Pratirodh ka Cinema, DelhiVarsha – senior journalistAdv. Rizwan Ali – DehradunAdv. Chandramohan Barthwal – KotdwarDigambar – Sanskrutik SangamamDr. Uma Bhatt – editor, Uttara Mahila magazineSuman Keshari – Author and PoetSatish Chand – theatre artistGurdeep Khurana – Samvedana, DehradunRajesh Bharati – senior journalist, Rashtriya SaharaNoor Zahir – Progressive Voices, LondonJitendra Sharma – Samvedana, DehradunDr. Indu Singh – retired principalGajendra Bahuguna – Samanantar Samvaad, DehradunNavneet Pandey – Poet and senior journalistChandra Bhandari – DehradunChandrakala – HaldwaniTanuja Bisht – UttarkashiIndresh Nautiyal – DehradunDr. AshutoshShweta TripathiGajendra RawatSurendra Singh BhandariAkhilesh YadavPrithvi Lakshmi Raj Singh – RamgarhGopal Lodhiyal Managher – NainitalMahendra SahgalHeera Madan Bora – ChampawatVipin Uniyal – KotdwarGopa JoshiIndra RathoreMadhulika ChaudharyMahesh UpadhyayDevendra BishtSulekhaArchana NautiyalRajeshSanjeev BhagatKala RayRashmi PainulyKunwar RavindraNaval KishoreKailash NauryalRaman NautiyalAvneeshJagmohan BalodiDeepa KaushalSunil RawatGajendraSamdarshi Bhartwal