Over a hundred former bureaucrats have written to the Chief Ministers of states expressing their anguish and concern at the ‘harassment’ of the Muslims in some parts of country.
The former civil servants said in an open letter that while the action of the Tablighi Jamaat in organising a meeting amid corona outbreak is “misguided and condemnable”, a section of the media acted in an “utterly irresponsible and reprehensible” manner and fuelled hostility towards the Muslims.
They said that the challenges of the pandemic can only be overcome by “remaining united and helping each other”. They appreciated the role of those Chief Ministers who have had a secular approach particularly during this pandemic.
According to them, the action of the Jamat in organising the event, disregarding the Delhi Government advisory, was misguided and condemnable. The Jamat meeting certainly was not the only such gathering, but a section of the media quickly gave it a communal colour and attributed motives to the Tablighi Jamaat in spreading the dreaded virus across the country.
In their view the media coverage helped create a hostile attitude towards the Muslim community, which led to various incidents of bias in the country.
They claimed that at some places the Muslim families are being denied relief, in the form of cash and ration, sanctioned by the governments during COVID-19.
“More disturbingly, reports of discrimination are also coming in from various places about Muslims being turned away from hospitals and health facilities,” the letter said.
The former bureaucrats also pointed out that millions of Indians and work in the Muslim countries. These countries have expressed serious concern about the recent developments. It is therefore imperative that we adopt non-discriminatory approach in our relief measures. This would assuage the misgivings of these countries and protect the interests of the sizeable Indian diaspora there.
They urged the Chief Ministers to ensure that the public functionaries are vigilant to check social boycott of any community, and any kind of medical or economic assistance reaches all needy sections of society.
These bureaucrats include former cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar, former IPS officers A S Dulat and Julio Ribeiro, former chief information commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, former Lt Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung and former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi.
