Threat to life from right wing groups

Shri Rajnath Singh,

Home Minister,

Government of India,

New Delhi

Dear Sir,

Many people believe that in the last few years an atmosphere of fear and oppression has built up in the country. The space for critical thinking and free speech has shrunk. Anyone expressing a contrary viewpoint is easily cast as being anti-national. Writers and free thinkers and activists have been repeatedly threatened and in some cases the threats have resulted in ugly violence and even murder. Sadly, the culprits behind some of these killings are still at large and forces inimical to liberty and democracy are only gaining in strength.

For the last seventeen years I have written about fundamentalist and anti-national forces undermining our constitutional democracy and freedom and how these forces have been behind the orchestrated killings of innocent men, women and children. Some of this work has been done in the face of great risk and danger. And my articles have been used in the courts of law to convict those guilty of mass carnage. A list of some of my writings on the related subjects is attached as Annexure I.

Yesterday I received a threatening letter at my office claiming that my killing is imminent. The letter advocates the cause of terror accused Sadhvi Pragya and those who are accused of killing the noted rationalist Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, the political activist from Maharashtra, Govind Pansare, the scholar, MM Kalburgi, and many other innocent Indians. It then pronounces my death sentence with the threat that it will be carried out soon. A copy of the letter is attached as Annexure II.

It is pertinent to mention here that those who are suspected of gunning down Dr Dabholkar and Pansare are still out of the reach of law enforcement agencies. Similarly, the prime accused in terror cases like the Malegaon, Mecca Masjid and Samjhauta Express bomb blasts have been absconding for almost a decade, with our agencies conspicuously failing to bring them to justice. The parent organisations to which these accused belong have also gained in prominence.  

Sanatan Sanstha, Abhinav Bharat, Hindu Janjagruti Samiti, Hindu Rakshak Samiti, Bajrang Dal, Durga Vahini, Sri Ram Sene, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, have all been found to be involved in acts of violence and communal riots in several parts of the country. Often these organisations have common members and leadership. They also keep assuming new identities. Evidence collected by agencies and available with the government suggests that they are all part of the same hydra –headed social and political group.   

The letter sent to me is a chilling reminder of the growing confidence of anti-national and fascist forces who want to exterminate all dissenting voices with violence. The language used in the letter is seemingly similar to many threats that Dabholkar had received immediately before he was brutally killed. 

I had received a similar threat letter in July last year. I had then sent a complaint to Police Commissioner of Delhi. A copy of the complaint is attached as Annexure III. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a response. 

Besides, Sanatan Sanstha, a right wing organization, had openly threatened me in the past. Evidence of the same is attached as Annexure IV.

The track record of the present NDA government suggests that if a similar incident had happened with a BJP leader or member of the larger RSS parivaar, the response of the police machinery would have been contrastingly different. 

I would like to urge you not to treat this is as an individual matter. I am writing this on behalf of scores of journalists, activists, artists, writers and ordinary citizens across the country who have been threatened or attacked by the right wing forces. 

In the ardent hope that the present government will carry out its constitutional duty of protecting liberty and democracy, I am writing you this letter.