Kangana, Prasoon Joshi and 60 other celebs issue statement in response to open letter by 'self-styled guardians' to PM Modi

MUMBAI: Three days after a group of 49 singers, actors and film-makers wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the increasing incidents of lynching and hate crimes, now another section of celebrities have responded with a counter statement.

62 celebrities including actor Kangana Ranaut and Biswajit Chatterjee, lyricist and Chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification Prasoon Joshi, film-makers Madhur Bhandarkar and Vivek Agnihotri have written a letter in response to 'selective outrage and false narratives'.

The statement, a copy of which has shared by news agency ANI on Twitter, read, "49 self-styled guardians and conscience keepers of the nation and of democratic values have once again expressed selective concern and demonstrated a clear and political bias and motive.


"It is aimed at tarnishing India's international standing and to negatively portray Prime Minister Narendra Modi's untiring efforts to effectuate governance on the foundations of positive nationalism and humanism which is the core of Indianness."


It further called the July 23 letter 'an attempt to defame the nation', saying that, "We do condemn the conspiracy." The 62 signatories also questioned the silence of the celebs who signed the letter during times "when tribals and the marginalised have become victims of Naxal terror".

On July 23, 49 personalities, including film-makers Shyam Benegal, Mani Ratnam, Anurag Kashyap and Aparna Sen as well as vocalist Shubha Mudgal and historian Ramchandra Guha, had expressed concern at the number of "religious identity-based hate crimes" and noted that Jai Shri Ram' has become a provocative war cry with many lynchings taking place in its name.

The 62 personalities who have signed the statement in response to the open letter also include Debashish Bhattacharya from Visva Bharati in Santiniketan, Avadh University Vice Chancellor Manoj Dikshit, Anirban Ganguly of the Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation.