New Delhi: More than 100 former civil servants have written an open letter to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath, urging him to withdraw the ‘illegal‘ and ‘atrocious’ ordinance his government has brought to supposedly curb ‘love jihad’ cases.‘Love jihad’ is a term recently given credence in Indian law, and refers to an imaginary concept coined by the Sangh Parivar to refer to a non-existent conspiracy by Muslims to trap Hindu women into conversions through forced marriage.It has been a month since Uttar Pradesh brought the ordinance which purportedly attempts to punish coercion into religious conversion. There has been a spate of FIRs and dubious arrests since it was brought. Only in two of the cases were women themselves the complainants.The letter mentions the particularly harrowing incident of Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad district where a 22-year-old Hindu woman miscarried as in the aftermath of her forced stay at a women’s shelter. The woman’s Muslim husband was arrested along with his brother, even though the concerned woman repeatedly said she was an adult and had married of her own volition.The letter also mentions that the ordinance is an assault upon the freedom of choice and elevates Uttar Pradesh into the status of an authoritarian regime.The full text of the letter and the list of its signatories are below:It is with deep disapproval and concern that we, a group of former civil servants, seek to address your government on a matter of overriding importance for the continued unity of our nation. We should like to clarify at the start that we, as a group, have no political affiliation but share a commitment to the idea of India as defined in our Constitution. Today we wish to share our anguish at the infamous Moradabad incident, and several similar incidents that have occurred at about the same time in your state. In the Moradabad incident, 22-year-old Rashid and his 25-year-old brother, Saleem, were arrested, to be released only two weeks later when Rashid’s wife, Pinki, gave testimony that she had married him willingly, without any compulsion. Rashid and Pinki, who married in July, 2020, well before the promulgation of any ordinance on the issue of interfaith marriage, were on their way to have their marriage registered on December 5 when they were accosted by alleged Bajrang Dal men, who accused Rashid of “love jihad”, and took them to the police. Saleem was with them at the time. While Rashid and Saleem were arrested, Pinki was sent to a shelter home.Also read: An Interfaith Couple Faced Violence, a Miscarriage and Arrest. We Can’t Say ‘No Harm Done’.Pinki repeatedly told the media, the police and the court right then that she had married Rashid willingly and wanted to live with her husband’s family. The vigilantes who had accosted them brought Pinki’s family to the police station. What is inexcusable is that the police remained mute as the vigilantes harassed and interrogated the innocent couple. Pinki suffered a miscarriage, possibly as a result of the harassment. Rashid is reported to have said, “I told the Bajrang Dal men my wife is pregnant, but they hurled abuses at us. They dragged us to a police station and called my in-laws. We were then locked up and sent to a quarantine centre. I wasn’t able to meet my wife.” (Rehman & Sinha, The Indian Express, December 20, 2020). Does this not amount to effective murder of an unborn child and is the police force of your State, by their inaction, not complicit in this?Regrettably this is only one of a series of heinous atrocities committed by your administration against young Indians across Uttar Pradesh (UP), Indians who are simply seeking to live their lives as free citizens of a free country. These atrocities, regardless of the indignation of all Indians devoted to the rule of law, continue unabated. The anti-conversion ordinance of your State is being used as a stick to victimise especially those Indian men who are Muslim and women who dare to exercise their freedom of choice. While the various High Courts, including the Allahabad High Court, have ruled unequivocally that choosing one’s life partner is a fundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution, the state of UP is blithely undermining that very Constitution.Also read: Adityanath’s Attack on Inter-Faith Marriages Extends Sangh Parivar Drive to Promote Manu’s Ideals The vigilantes are acting as a power unto themselves in intimidating innocent Indian citizens. It has become painfully evident that, in recent years, UP state, once known as the cradle of the Ganga-Jamuna civilisation, has become the epicentre of the politics of hate, division and bigotry and that the institutions of governance are now steeped in communal poison. What is worse is that your law enforcement machinery, with the active backing of your government, is playing a role reminiscent of the secret police in authoritarian regimes. You can pose no greater threat to the nation than by turning its own citizens against one another, a conflict that can only serve the country’s enemies. As Chanakya taught us, a crafty politician must sow dissension amongst rivals. Here you are sowing dissensions among our own people.We, therefore, demand that the illegal ordinance be withdrawn forthwith and those Indians that have suffered from its unconstitutional enforcement be suitably compensated. The policemen who were responsible for allowing this must be called to account under the law, suitably investigated at a senior level of the magistracy and if found to have facilitated the death of the unborn infant, be put to trial under the IPC. Moreover, the entire police force of Uttar Pradesh needs to be trained without delay in respecting the rights of all citizens; and the politicians of UP, including yourself, need to re-educate yourselves about the provisions of the Constitution which you and other lawmakers have sworn to uphold. While our past communications to you give us little reason to expect that your government will take corrective action to uphold the rule of law, we do hope this letter will contribute to mobilising informed public opinion against these developments and that the Courts will take notice and intervene to stem the rot.SATYAMEVA JAYATEAnita AgnihotriIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Department of Social Justice Empowerment, GoISalahuddin AhmadIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of RajasthanShafi AlamIPS (Retd.)Former Director General, National Crime Records Bureau, GoIK. Saleem AliIPS (Retd.)Former Special Director, CBI, GoIS.P. Ambrose IAS (Retd.)Former Additional Secretary, Ministry of Shipping & Transport, GoIAnand ArniR&AW (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoIVappala Balachandran IPS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoIGopalan Balagopal IAS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West BengalChandrashekhar Balakrishnan IAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Coal, GoIRana BanerjiIAS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat (R&AW), GoIT.K. BanerjiIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Union Public Service CommissionSharad BeharIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya PradeshAurobindo BeheraIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of OdishaMadhu BhaduriIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to PortugalPradip Bhattacharya IAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Development & Planning and Administrative Training Institute, Govt. of West BengalMeeran C Borwankar IPS (Retd.)Former DGP, Bureau of Police Research and Development, GoIRavi BudhirajaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, GoISundar Burra IAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Govt. of MaharashtraRachel ChatterjeeIAS (Retd.)Former Special Chief Secretary, Agriculture, Govt. of Andhra PradeshKalyani Chaudhuri IAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West BengalAnna Dani IAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of MaharashtraP.R. DasguptaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Food Corporation of India, GoINareshwar Dayal IFS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs and former High Commissioner to the United KingdomPradeep K. DebIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Deptt. Of Sports, GoINitin DesaiIES (Retd.)Former Secretary and Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, GoIKeshav Desiraju IAS (Retd.)Former Health Secretary, GoIM.G. DevasahayamIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Govt. of HaryanaSushil Dubey IFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to SwedenA.S. DulatIPS (Retd.)Former OSD on Kashmir, Prime Minister’s Office, GoIK.P. Fabian IFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to ItalyPrabhu GhateIAS (Retd.)Former Addl. Director General, Department of Tourism, GoIArif GhauriIRS (Retd.)Former Governance Adviser, DFID, Govt. of the United Kingdom (on deputation)Gourisankar GhoshIAS (Retd.)Former Mission Director, National Drinking Water Mission, GoISuresh K. GoelIFS (Retd.)Former Director General, Indian Council of Cultural Relations, GoIS.K. GuhaIAS (Retd.)Former Joint Secretary, Department of Women & Child Development, GoIH.S. GujralIFoS (Retd.)Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Govt. of PunjabMeena GuptaIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, GoIRavi Vira Gupta IAS (Retd.)Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of IndiaWajahat Habibullah IAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, GoI and Chief Information CommissionerDeepa Hari IRS (Resigned)Sajjad Hassan IAS (Retd.)Former Commissioner (Planning), Govt. of ManipurRahul KhullarIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of IndiaAjai Kumar IFoS(Retd.)Former Director, Ministry of Agriculture, GoIArun Kumar IAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, GoIBrijesh Kumar IAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Department of Information Technology, GoISudhir KumarIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Central Administrative TribunalP.K. LahiriIAS (Retd.)Former ED, Asian Development Bank & Former Revenue Secretary, GoIAloke B. LalIPS (Retd.)Former Director General (Prosecution), Govt. of UttarakhandSubodh LalIPoS (Resigned)Former Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications, GoIB.B. MahajanIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Deptt. of Food, GoIP.M.S. Malik IFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Myanmar & Special Secretary, MEA, GoIHarsh Mander IAS (Retd.)Govt. of Madhya PradeshAmitabh MathurIPS (Retd.)Former Director, Aviation Research Centre and Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoIAditi MehtaIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of RajasthanShivshankar MenonIFS (Retd.)Former Foreign Secretary and Former National Security AdviserSonalini Mirchandani IFS (Resigned)GoINoor MohammadIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, National Disaster Management Authority, Govt. of IndiaAvinash MohananeyIPS (Retd.)Former Director General of Police, Govt. of SikkimDeb Mukharji IFS (Retd.)Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh and former Ambassador to NepalShiv Shankar MukherjeeIFS (Retd.)Former High Commissioner to the United KingdomPranab S. MukhopadhyayIAS (Retd.)Former Director, Institute of Port Management, GoINagalsamy IA&AS (Retd.)Former Principal Accountant General, Tamil Nadu & KeralaT.K.A. NairIAS (Retd.)Former Adviser to Prime Minister of IndiaP.G.J. NampoothiriIPS (Retd.)Former Director General of Police, Govt. of GujaratP. Joy OommenIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of ChhattisgarhAmitabha Pande IAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoIAlok Perti IAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Coal, GoIR. PoornalingamIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, GoIRajesh PrasadIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to the NetherlandsR.M. PremkumarIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of MaharashtraT.R. Raghunandan IAS (Retd.)Former Joint Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, GoIN.K. Raghupathy IAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Staff Selection Commission, GoIV.P. RajaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory CommissionC. Babu RajeevIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, GoIP.V. RameshIAS (Retd.)Former Addl. Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister of Andhra PradeshK. Sujatha RaoIAS (Retd.)Former Health Secretary, GoIM.Y. Rao IAS (Retd.)Nirupama Menon RaoIFS (Retd.)Former Foreign Secretary, GoIVijaya Latha ReddyIFS (Retd.)Former Deputy National Security Adviser, GoIJulio Ribeiro IPS (Retd.)Former Adviser to Governor of Punjab & former Ambassador to RomaniaAruna Roy IAS (Resigned)Manabendra N. Roy IAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West BengalDeepak SananIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Adviser (AR) to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal PradeshS. SatyabhamaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairperson, National Seeds Corporation, GoIN.C. Saxena IAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Planning Commission, GoIA. Selvaraj IRS (Retd.)Former Chief Commissioner, Income Tax, Chennai, GoIArdhendu Sen IAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of West BengalAbhijit SenguptaIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoIAftab Seth IFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to JapanAshok Kumar SharmaIFoS (Retd.)Former MD, State Forest Development Corporation, Govt. of GujaratAshok Kumar SharmaIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Finland and EstoniaNavrekha Sharma IFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to IndonesiaPravesh SharmaIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya PradeshRaju Sharma IAS (Retd.)Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Uttar PradeshRashmi Shukla SharmaIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya PradeshRamesh Inder SinghIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Punjab and former Chief Information Commissioner, PunjabTirlochan SinghIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, National Commission for Minorities, GoIJawhar Sircar IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI, & former CEO, Prasar BharatiA.K. SrivastavaIAS (Retd.)Former Administrative Member, Madhya Pradesh Administrative TribunalP.S.S. ThomasIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary General, National Human Rights CommissionGeetha ThoopalIRAS (Retd.)Former General Manager, Metro Railway, KolkataHindal TyabjiIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary rank, Govt. of Jammu & KashmirAshok VajpeyiIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Lalit Kala AkademiRamani Venkatesan IAS (Retd.)Former Director General, YASHADA, Govt. of Maharashtra
