Open letter to the Prime Minister calling on the British government to take action to safeguard freedom of expression in India ahead of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the UK later this week.
Writers urge British Government to safeguard freedom of expression in India
Dear Prime
Minister
Re: Urging action by British
government to safeguard freedom of expression in India
As writers
and writers’ organisations committed to protecting and defending freedom of
expression around the world, we, the undersigned, are extremely concerned about
the rising climate of fear, growing intolerance and violence towards critical
voices who challenge orthodoxy or fundamentalism in India. As the three-day
state visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the United Kingdom between 12
and 14 November draws near, we urge you to engage with Prime Minister Modi both
publicly and privately on this crucial issue. Please speak out on the current
state of freedom of expression in his country, urging him to stay true to the
spirit of the democratic freedoms enshrined in India’s Constitution.
As you will
no doubt be aware three public intellectuals, Malleshappa Madivalappa Kalburgi,
Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar, have been killed by unknown assailants
in the last two years alone. At least 37 journalists have been killed in the
country since 1992. Other writers have received threats.
Over the
past month, at least 40 Indian novelists, poets and playwrights have returned
the prize awarded to them by the Sahitya Akademi, the National Academy of
Letters, to protest against these attacks. In their statements, the writers
have criticised the Akademi’s silence over the murders, the deteriorating
political environment in which those expressing dissent have been attacked by
government ministers, and challenged the government to demonstrate tolerance
and protect free speech.
After this,
and a silent march by protesting writers, the Akademi issued a statement
condemning the murder of Kalburgi and a resolution asking ‘governments at the
centre and in the states to take immediate action to bring the culprits to book
and ensure the security of writers now and in the future.’ It also requested
the writers who had returned awards to reconsider their decisions. Dissenting
writers responded to the Akademi saying it should have spoken out much earlier,
and urged the Akademi to rethink how it can support ‘writers all over India,
and by extension, the people of the country.’ They reminded the Akademi of the
urgency, calling the present time a ‘moment of spiralling hatred and
intolerance.’ Mr Modi’s government has not yet formally responded to the
Akademi’s resolution.
The protests
have grown beyond the community of Indian writers of all languages. Scientists,
artists, film-makers, academics, scholars, and actors have either complained
the climate of intolerance or returned awards on a scale unprecedented in
India.
In October, Pakistani
singer Ghulam Ali had his performance in Mumbai cancelled by the Shiv Sena
party, an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The Shiv Sena has said it
will not allow any Pakistani artist to perform until the situation in Kashmir
has improved. A few days later, Sudheendra Kulkarni, chairman of Observer
Research Foundation, was attacked by Shiv Sena activists and smeared with black
paint for hosting the book launch of former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid
Mahmud Kasuri’s book launch and refusing to cancel it.
India’s
Constitution recognises freedom of expression as a cornerstone of India’s
democracy; however despite its constitutional commitments, India’s legal system
makes it surprisingly easy to silence others. In a report earlier this year,
PEN and the International Human Rights Programme (IHRP) at the University of
Toronto’s Faculty of Law outlined the overreaching legislation and longstanding
problems with the administration of justice, which have produced cumbersome
legal processes that deter citizens from exercising their right to free
expression. The resulting chilling effect silences political criticism and
often discourages marginal voices from speaking out on sensitive social,
cultural, and religious matters.
In line with
the United Kingdom’s stated commitment to promoting human rights, we ask that
you raise the above issues with Prime Minister Modi and urge him to provide
better protection for writers, artists and other critical voices and ensure
that freedom of speech is safeguarded. Without these protections a democratic,
peaceful society is not possible.
Raficq Abdulla
Jim Aitken
Lee Allane
Maggie Anderson
Kate
Armstrong
Alan
Ayckbourn
Sally Baker,
Director, Wales PEN Cymru
Marion Baraitser
Marge Berer
Terence
Blacker
Ricky Brown
Peter
Buckman
Tom Bullough
Katie Burden
Jim Burnside
Maoilios Caimbeul
Jenni Calder,
Membership Secretary, Scottish PEN
Fiona Cameron
Drew
Campbell, President, Scottish PEN
Joyce Caplan
Aimee
Chalmers
Regi Claire
Anne Clarke
Jennifer
Clement, President, PEN International
Jo Clifford
Ken Cockburn
Anne
Connolly
Michael
Connor
Nicki
Cornwell
Christine
Crow
Manishita
Dass
Suzy Davies
Christine De
Luca
Patrick
Dobbs
Colin Donati
Sasha
Dugdale
William Duncan
Anne Dunford
Jonathan
Edwards
Suzanne
Egerton
Dorothy-Grace
Elder
Menna Elfyn,
President, Wales PEN Cymru
Moris Farhi
Penelope
Farmer
Vicki Feaver
Euna Fisher
Matthew Fitt
Una Flett
Steven
Fowler
Miranda
France
Lindsey Fraser
Maureen
Freely, President, English PEN
Vivian
French
Leah Fritz
Iain Galbraith
Omar Garcia
Alan Gay
Maitreesh
Ghatak
Magi Gibson
Anne Lorne
Gillies
Brian Girvin
Jo
Glanville, Director, English PEN
Fiona Graham,
Vice President, Scottish PEN
Niall
Griffiths
Jay
Griffiths
Bishnupriya
Gupta
Daniel Hahn
Georgina
Hammick
Ann
Harrison, Director, Freedom to Write Programme, PEN International
David
Harrower
Jonathan
Heawood
Mairi
Hedderwick
Joy Hendry
Diana Hendry
Daisy Hirst
John William
Hodgson
Eva Hoffman
Amanda
Hopkinson
Sarah Howard
Sunny Hundal
Brian
Johnstone
Alice Jolly
Carole Jones
Sally
Roberts Jones
Beth Junor
Meena
Kandasamy
Nitasha Kaul
Peter Kerr
Andrew Kidd
J. Kimber
Hari Kunzru
Nikita
Lalwani
Lee Langley
Joanne Leedom-Ackerman
Thomas
Legendre
Joan Lennon
Paul Levy
Gwyneth
Lewis
Marina Lewycka
Jean Liddiard
David Lodge
Sarah Lutyens
Pauline Lynch
Neil Mac
Neil
Ian
Macdonald
Carl
MacDougall
Shena Mackay
Iseabail Macleod
Aonghas
MacNeacail
Iain Maloney
Colin
Manlove
Karen
Margolis
Robyn
Marsack
Henry Marsh
Annabelle
May
Val McDermid
David
McDonald
David
McDowall
Ian McEwan
Sarah
McIntosh
Sophie McKeand
Pauline Melville
Greg
Michaelson
Paul Moore
Cathy Moore
David Morgan
Neel
Mukherjee
Anne Murray
Rebekah
Murrell
Maureen
Myant
Beverley
Naidoo
Liz Niven
Katharine
Norbury
Georgina
Norie
Heather
Norman-Soderlind
Claire
O’Kell
Ruth Padel
Simin Patel
Penny
Perrick
Catherine
Peters
Rosemary
Phipps
Naomi Popple
Tom Pow
Chris Powici
Angharad
Price
Faith Pullin,
Chair of Women Writers Committee, Scottish PEN
Anna Purser
Jean
Rafferty, Chair of Writers at Risk Committee, Scottish PEN
Monisha
Rajesh
Ravinder
Randhawa
Lynne Reid
Banks
Elizabeth
Rimmer
Fiona
Rintoul
Prof Richard
H Roberts
Ferial
Rogers
Lesley Anne
Rose
Sioned Rowlands
Salman Rushdie
Michael Russell
Gita Sahgal
Angela Saini
Chrys Salt MBE
Philippe Sands
Ros Schwartz
Andrew Sclater
Lawrence
Scott
Robert Sharp
Owen Sheers,
Chair, PEN Wales Cymru
Sara
Sheridan
Nikesh Shukla
Salma Siddique
Francesca Simon
Penny
Simpson
Joan Smith
Dennis Smith
Nicola Spurr
Tom Stacey
Anne
Stevenson
Leslie
Stevenson
Anne Stokes
Zoe Strachan
Lynsey
Sutherland
Aniko
Szilagyi
Mary Taylor
Carl Tighe
Carles
Torner, Executive Director, PEN International
Hannah
Trevarthen
Jonathan
Trigell
Salil
Tripathi, Chair of the Writers in Prison Committee, PEN International
Mirza Waheed
Jehanne Wake
Harriet Walter
Lynnda Wardle
Val Warner
Eleanor Watts
Nicola White
Zoe Wicomb
Colin Will
Karina
Williamson
Les Wilson
Fiona Wilson
Peter Wood
Cotterill
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