On 'Violence Against Minorities', Eminent Personalities' Open Letter In Karnataka

Over the past few months, Karnataka witnessed the brutal killing of youths in several districts, rampant 'hate speeches', and public threats, the open letter stated.

Nearly three dozen eminent personalities have written a joint open letter to Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai expressing their concern over the "frequent violence against religious minorities" in the state.

"We are a group of senior scientists, writers, academics, artists, and lawyers, and we write with concern about Karnataka's deteriorating governance and the frequent violence against religious minorities," read the letter.

The letter stated, "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."

The letter further alleged that such trends go against the long history of Karnataka as a progressive state that facilitated social harmony of a plural society and initiated model welfare programs for all sections of the population.