The letter lists five incidents from last year, including lynching of Pehlu Khan in Rajasthan, seeks “a clear response” from PM Narendra Modi and action against perpetrators. The letter lists five incidents from last year, including lynching of Pehlu Khan in Rajasthan, seeks “a clear response” from PM Narendra Modi and action against perpetrators.

Close to 70 retired bureaucrats wrote an open letter on Sunday expressing concern over incidents of “mindless violence” targeting the minorities and “lackadaisical response” from the law enforcement agencies to “these attacks”. The letter — signed by 67 former civil servants from different services — lists five incidents from last year, including lynching of Pehlu Khan in Rajasthan, seeks “a clear response” from PM Narendra Modi and action against perpetrators.

Signatories to the letter include former health secretaries Keshav Desiraju and K Sujatha Rao, former secretary of information and broadcasting Bhaskar Ghose, former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, retired IT secretary Brijesh Kumar, retired bureaucrat and activist Harsh Mander and Aruna Roy.

Referring to incidents of “organised resistance” to sale of properties to Muslims or refusal to have them as tenants as reported in the media, the former bureaucrats said, “The daily indignities that the Muslims face in this and many other ways is bound to lead to an atmosphere of resentment in that religious community that will further vitiate an already poisoned environment.” The letter also mentions the alleged detainment of a group singing carols in Satna.

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