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NEW DELHI: Indian police have booked 49 celebrities who had written an open letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the increasing cases of mob lynching in the country, Indian media reported.
A first information report (FIR was lodged in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar on Thursday against nearly 50 celebrities, including Ramchandra Guha, Mani Ratnam and Aparna Sen, who had raised concern over the growing incidents of mob lynching.
The case was lodged after an order was passed by chief judicial magistrate Surya Kant Tiwari two months ago on a petition filed by local advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha.
The petitioner said that nearly 50 signatories of the letter named as accused in his petition allegedly “tarnished the image of the country and undermined the impressive performance of the prime minister” besides “supporting secessionist tendencies”.
Police booked the celebrities under sections of the Indian Penal Code, including those relating to sedition, public nuisance, hurting religious feelings and insulting with an intent to provoke breach of peace.
The letter was written by 49 eminent personalities, including filmmakers Mani Ratnam, Anurag Kashyap, Shyam Benegal, actor Soumitra Chatterjee as well as vocalist Shubha Mudgal in July this year.
It said that the lynching of Muslims, Dalits and other minorities must be stopped immediately, while stressing that there was “no democracy without dissent”.
