As a rejoinder to the letter addressed to PM Modi by 49 celebrities to curb mob lynching involving 'Jai Shri Ram' chants, another set of 62 celebrities have written an open letter accusing the former celebrities of ‘selective bias’.
Bengaluru: The war of letters has hit the peak.
A day after MyNation exposed the hypocrisy of 49 celebs writing a letter to the PM, focusing only on killings of Muslims and Dalits, 62 celebs have penned a stinging rejoinder.
On Wednesday (July 24), as many as 49 celebrities penned a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to intervene in the cases related to mob lynching in the name of 'Jai Shri Ram' and take steps to curb it. They had also asked PM Modi to hand out “exemplary punishments” so that it acts as a deterrent to the perpetrators.
Celebrities cutting across professions had in one voice sought the Prime Minister to do the needful.
The letter received a lot of flak, with many questioning the intent and timing and also the selective bias.
Now, in what comes as a counter letter, as many as 62 other celebrities have written an open letter, calling out the hollowness in the claims as elucidated in the earlier letter.
While the earlier letter had signatories like actresses Aparna Sen Sharma, the present letter has signatories like actress Kangana Ranaut and director Vivek Agnihotri.
Here are a few excerpts:
1. "The signatories to the “open letter” have, in the past, kept silent when tribals have become victims of Naxal terror, and when separatists have issued dictates to burn schools in Kashmir, including when the demand for dismembering India, for making pieces of her 'Tukde Tukde' were made, they kept silent when slogans were chanted by terrorists."
2. On the issue of Jai Shri Ram chants: "When those who chant 'Jai Shri Ram' were imprisoned, they were called criminals and were being killed and maimed and when complaints of being forced to chant 'Jai Shri Ram' were being repeatedly exposed as being false and concocted, the celebrities stayed silent."
MyNation spoke to Ramachandra Guha, a signatory to the triggering or the first letter, but he refused to comment on the issue, saying he had not seen the letter, thereby leaving no scope for any controversy.
Last Updated Jul 26, 2019, 2:16 PM IST