Director Anurag Kashyap, actor Konkona Sensharma and filmmaker Mani Ratnam are among a list of 49 eminent personalities who have signed an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, raising concerns over lynching of minorities, the misuse of the slogan ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and the rising intolerance against dissent in the country.
The letter lists statistics about the rise in lynchings and hate crimes against minorities including Dalits, Muslims and Christians particularly since PM Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) assumed power in May 2014. It urges the PM to crack down on these cases and implement harsher laws against the crimes.
Other signatories from the film and entertainment industries include filmmakers Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Aparna Sen, Shyam Benegal, Ketan Mehta and musician Shubha Mudgal.
The letter also talks about the suppression of dissent and labelling of any opposing voice as ‘anti-national’.
