Ahead of Republic Day, a group of senior writers, academicians, scientists and artists have written an open letter to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and all legislators expressing concern over the ‘deteriorating governance and the frequent violence against religious minorities’ in Karnataka.
The letter is signed by 34 individuals, including historians Ramachandra Guha and Prof. Janaki Nair; sociologists A. R. Vasavi and Prof. Satish Deshpande; scientists Prof. Sharadchandra Lele, Prof. Vinod Gaur and Prof. Vidyanand Nanjundiah; Kannada writers Vivek Shanbhag, Purushottam Bilimale and K. P. Suresha, and activist Bezwada Wilson.
“Over the past few months, the State has witnessed the brutal killing of youths in several districts, rampant hate speeches, public threats and disruptions of worship by religious minorities, honour killings, moral policing, misogynistic statements by legislators, and incidents of hostile and violent encounters between various religious groups. These trends have been encouraged by the callous and un-constitutional statements made by legislators and the inability of the State machinery to rein in fringe anti-social groups,” they wrote.
