Sashi Tharoor, MP, Trivanandhapuram urged the PM of India to take a public stand against the FIR filed against 49 influential personalities for giving their opinion about the crimes that take place in the name of God, in the country.
In the final days of July 2019, 49 prominent personalities of India that includes filmmakers Aparna Sen, Anurag Kashyap, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Mani Ratnam, Shyam Benegal, historian Ramachandra Guha, author Amit Chaudhuri, scholar Ashis Nandy and actor Konkona Sen Sharma, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to put a stop to mob lynching and other crimes that takes place in the country.
The signatories of the letter said that the rate of crime like mob lynching and other offences against dalits is high (800+ in 2016) but the percentage of conviction rate is low. The group stated that many such atrocities take the name of a specific deity; which the group says is bringing dishonor to that very same God the perpetrators think they are honoring. They urged that such offences should be declared non-bailable.
An advocate named Sudhir Kumar Ojha filed a case in Muzaffarpur, Bihar against all the 49 and called their letter the damaging the “image of the country”, undermining “the impressive performance of the prime minister” and “supporting secessionist tendencies”.
Sashi Tharoor wanted the PM to uphold the freedom of expression and speech that Indian citizens have been given by the constitution. Tharoor stressed that diverse opinions make democracy meaningful and it should be protected by the PM.
On 8.10.2019, 185 influential personalities from the field of art, culture and literature expressed their support to the 49 artists who have been named in the FIR for voicing their opinion to protect the innocent and punish the guilty. Members of the opposition, film fraternity and arts have also expressed solidarity with the 49 members. Actor turned Politician Kamal Hassan has also spoken in support of them.
What should be noted is that the advocate – who filed this case against the members has filed cases mostly against celebrities and social activists including Sushil Kumar Modi, Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal, Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Shah Rukh Khan his wife Gauri Khan, Bipasha Basu, Katrina Kaif, Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha and Salman Khan. Most of his cases are called as an act of attention drawing.