New Delhi: The Constitutional Conduct Group – of former civil servants – have expressed deep concern with the Union government’s decision to lift the ban on civil servants joining or participating in the activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological fount of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.The group notes its disquiet with the fact that those who are tasked with defending secular democracy and minority rights can now openly declare their allegiance to an “organisation that is ideologically opposed to both of these.”The signatories – 115 in number – occupied prominent posts in government and sought to highlight the import of this order on the civil services during communal or caste mass violence, times when the role of the district magistrate and the police leadership is decisive. At such points, public officials with bias could lead to fatal violence, they note.The full statement and list of signatories are below.§We, former civil servants and members of the Constitutional Conduct Group, write to express our profound concern about the implications for secular democracy of the recent order of the union government to lift the decades old ban on civil servants becoming members of or participating in the activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The paramount duty of civil administrators and the police is to defend and uphold the Constitution. This includes, centrally, the protection of the Constitutional rights – including of life, liberty and worship – of religious and caste minorities. For a fair discharge of these duties, civil servants must, at all times, demonstrate their humanism, impartiality and adherence to the values enshrined in the Constitution of India. Recognising that caste, religion and gender continue to be critical fractures in Indian society, we feel a deep disquiet about this government order that allows government servants, who are tasked with defending secular democracy and minority rights, to openly declare their allegiance to an organisation that is ideologically opposed to both of these.The import of this government directive is that from now on, a district magistrate, a police officer, a secretary to government, a professor, a teacher or a government doctor, can be openly a member of or participate in the activities of an organisation which rejects the pluralist, secular core of the Indian Constitution. We also note with regret the recent statements of High Court judges on the cusp of retirement of their ideological affinity with the RSS as well as the unequivocal judgment of the Madhya Pradesh High Court upholding the lifting of the ban.The official defence of this decision rests on the claim that the RSS is a cultural and not a political organisation. This is patently not true. The goal of a Hindu Rashtra lies at the core of the ideology of the RSS, as articulated by its founders and leaders since its formation 99 years ago. This goal of a theocratic state in which people of some religious identities have lesser rights is in direct opposition to the principles and pledges of the Indian Constitution, which guarantee equal citizenship rights and freedoms to people of every faith and identity. This renders the government order that permits public officials to be members of or to associate with activities of the RSS a violation of the Constitution itself.The close links of the RSS with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are also well known. Literally millions of RSS members openly campaign for the BJP in every state and national election. How then can the integrity of the electoral process be assured when Chief Election Commissioners, Returning Officers and all others tasked with organising a fair election can be members of an organisation which is strongly aligned to one particular political party? Members of organisations with ideological affinities to the RSS have, in recent years, made speeches stoking hatred and sometimes even calling for genocide and ethnic cleansing. At least six judicial commissions of inquiry into major episodes of communal violence – the Jaganmohan Reddy report on the Ahmedabad riots of 1969; the D.P. Madon report on the Bhiwandi riots in 1970; the Vithayathil report on the Tellicherry riots in 1971; the Jitendra Narain report on the Jamshedpur riots in 1979; the P. Venugopal report on the Kanyakumari riots of 1982; and the report on the Bhagalpur riots in 1989 – have explicitly indicted organisations and parties having strong affinities with the ideology of the RSS for their role in these major communal flare-ups that resulted in extensive loss of life and property of Muslim and other citizens. As former civil servants, we focus specifically on the import of this order on the civil services during communal or caste mass violence. In such times, the role of the district magistrate and the police leadership is decisive. If these public officers are free from religious and caste prejudices, if they are courageous, compassionate and fair, they can douse, in a matter of hours, the most fearsome fires of communal and caste savagery. But instead, if they buckle under illegal orders from their political superiors or, worse still, if they, too, are tainted by communal or caste bias, they would bear direct responsibility for the ensuing violence entailing the loss of innocent lives and livelihoods.Civil servants are servants first of the Constitution; and only after this, of the elected government under which they serve. If Constitutional pledges or the rights of the most disadvantaged citizen are imperilled by orders of the elected government, it is their duty to resist such unconstitutional orders. India’s first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel likened the civil services to the “steel frame” of our newly independent nation. In times when some politicians and religious leaders might mobilise people with calls to religion, caste and region, his hope was that a grateful people would rely upon the civil services to act as the steel frame to hold the country together and protect its most vulnerable people. The order of his Ministry banning the RSS in 1948 refers to “the forces of hate and violence” that must be rooted out.Hence, we urge the immediate withdrawal of this egregious order, which, if and when implemented, would engender the collapse of Sardar Patel’s steel frame, render religious and caste minorities even more vulnerable in times of communal and caste violence, and cause enormous detriment to the soul of the Constitution. Satyameva Jayate.Constitutional Conduct Group Anand ArniRAS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoIAruna BagcheeIAS (Retd.)Former Joint Secretary, Ministry of Mines, GoISandeep BagcheeIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Secretary, Govt. of MaharashtraG. BalachandhranIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West BengalVappala Balachandran IPS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoIGopalan Balagopal IAS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West BengalSushant BaligaEngineering Services (Retd.)Former Additional Director General, Central PWD, GoIRana BanerjiRAS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoISharad BeharIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya PradeshAurobindo BeheraIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of OdishaMadhu BhaduriIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to PortugalNutan Guha BiswasIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Police Complaints Authority, Govt. of NCT of DelhiRavi BudhirajaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, GoISundar Burra IAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Govt. of MaharashtraR. ChandramohanIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Secretary, Transport and Urban Development, Govt. of NCT of DelhiRachel ChatterjeeIAS (Retd.)Former Special Chief Secretary, Agriculture, Govt. of Andhra PradeshKalyani Chaudhuri IAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West BengalPurnima ChauhanIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Administrative Reforms, Youth Services & Sports and Fisheries, Govt. of Himachal PradeshGurjit Singh CheemaIAS (Retd.)Former Financial Commissioner (Revenue), Govt. of PunjabF.T.R. ColasoIPS (Retd.)Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Karnataka & former Director General of Police, Govt. of Jammu & KashmirAnna Dani IAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of MaharashtraVibha Puri Das IAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GoIP.R. DasguptaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Food Corporation of India, GoIPradeep K. DebIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Deptt. Of Sports, GoINitin Desai Former Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, GoIM.G. DevasahayamIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Govt. of HaryanaRenu Sahni DharIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Adviser to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal PradeshKiran DhingraIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, GoISushil 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)Suresh 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 IndiaDeepa Hari IRS (Resigned)Sajjad Hassan IAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Govt. of ManipurKamal Jaswal IAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Department of Information Technology, GoINaini Jeyaseelan IAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoISanjay KaulIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Secretary, Govt. of KarnatakaGita KripalaniIRS (Retd.)Former Member, Settlement Commission, GoIIsh KumarIPS (Retd.)Former DGP (Vigilance & Enforcement), Govt. of Telangana and former Special Rapporteur, National Human Rights CommissionSudhir KumarIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Central Administrative TribunalSubodh LalIPoS (Resigned)Former Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications, GoISandip Madan IAS (Resigned)Former Secretary, Himachal Pradesh Public Service CommissionDinesh MalhotraIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Govt. of Himachal PradeshP.M.S. Malik IFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Myanmar & Special Secretary, MEA, GoIHarsh Mander IAS (Retd.)Govt. of Madhya PradeshAmitabh MathurIPS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoILalit MathurIAS (Retd.)Former Director General, National Institute of Rural Development, GoIL.L. MehrotraIFS (Retd.)Former Special Envoy to the Prime Minister and former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, GoIAditi MehtaIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of RajasthanShivshankar MenonIFS (Retd.)Former Foreign Secretary and Former National Security AdviserMalay MishraIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to HungarySatya Narayan MohantyIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary General, National Human Rights CommissionSudhansu MohantyIDAS (Retd.)Former Financial Adviser (Defence Services), Ministry of Defence, GoIAnup MukerjiIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of BiharDeb Mukharji IFS (Retd.)Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh and former Ambassador to NepalJayashree MukherjeeIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of MaharashtraShiv Shankar MukherjeeIFS (Retd.)Former High Commissioner to the United KingdomGautam MukhopadhayaIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to MyanmarNagalsamy IA&AS (Retd.)Former Principal Accountant General, Tamil Nadu & KeralaSobha Nambisan IAS (Retd.)Former Principal Secretary (Planning), Govt. of KarnatakaRamesh NarayanaswamiIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of NCT of DelhiSurendra NathIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Finance Commission, Govt. of Madhya PradeshP. Joy OommenIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of ChhattisgarhAmitabha Pande IAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoIMaxwell PereiraIPS (Retd.)Former Joint Commissioner of Police, DelhiAlok Perti IAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Coal, GoIG.K. PillaiIAS (Retd.)Former Home Secretary, GoIRajesh PrasadIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to the NetherlandsR.M. PremkumarIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of MaharashtraRajdeep PuriIRS (Resigned)Former Joint Commissioner of Income Tax, GoIN.K. Raghupathy IAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Staff Selection Commission, GoIV.P. RajaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory CommissionV. RamaniIAS (Retd.)Former Director General, YASHADA, Govt. of MaharashtraP.V. RameshIAS (Retd.)Former Addl. Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister of Andhra PradeshM. RameshkumarIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Maharashtra Administrative TribunalK. Sujatha RaoIAS (Retd.)Former Health Secretary, GoIM.Y. Rao IAS (Retd.)Satwant Reddy IAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, GoIVijaya Latha ReddyIFS (Retd.)Former Deputy National Security Adviser, GoIJulio Ribeiro IPS (Retd.)Former Director General of Police, Govt. of PunjabAruna Roy IAS (Resigned)Manabendra N. Roy IAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West BengalA.K. SamantaIPS (Retd.)Former Director General of Police (Intelligence), Govt. of West BengalDeepak SananIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Adviser (AR) to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal PradeshG.V. Venugopala SarmaIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Odisha S. 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 SharmaIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Finland and EstoniaPravesh 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 PradeshAvay ShuklaIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary (Forests & Technical Education), Govt. of Himachal PradeshK.S. SidhuIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Secretary, Govt. of MaharashtraAjai Kumar SinghIPS (Retd.)Former Director General of Police, Govt. of KarnatakaMukteshwar SinghIAS (Retd.)Former Member, Madhya Pradesh Public Service CommissionSatyavir SinghIRS (Retd.)Former Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, GoISujatha SinghIFS (Retd.)Former Foreign Secretary, GoITara Ajai SinghIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of KarnatakaA.K. SrivastavaIAS (Retd.)Former Administrative Member, Madhya Pradesh Administrative TribunalPrakriti SrivastavaIFoS (Retd.)Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests & Special Officer, Rebuild Kerala Development Programme, Govt. of Kerala Parveen TalhaIRS (Retd.)Former Member, Union Public Service CommissionAnup ThakurIAS (Retd.)Former Member, National Consumer Disputes Redressal CommissionP.S.S. ThomasIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary General, National Human Rights CommissionGeetha ThoopalIRAS (Retd.)Former General Manager, Metro Railway, KolkataAshok VajpeyiIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Lalit Kala Akademi