Drop sedition case against 49 intellectuals who wrote to PM Narendra Modi: MK Stalin

In a letter dated July 23, 49 personalities had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing their concern over the incidents of lynching.

Chennai: CMK President MK Stalin on Saturday demanded that the case against 49 known personalities who had written an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be dropped.

"I demand that the case against 49 intellectuals who wrote to Prime Minister on mob lynching should be dropped," Stalin said while addressing a gathering at an event in Chennai.

In a letter dated July 23, at least forty-nine known personalities including writer Ramchandra Guha and filmmakers Mani Ratnam, Shyam Benegal, Aparna Sen and Anurag Kashyap and others wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing their concern over the incidents of lynching.

On July 27, a criminal complaint was filed in a court in Bihar against all the 49 personalities who wrote the letter to the PM. The case was lodged on Thursday 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 police said the FIR was lodged 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 had stated that the lynching of Muslims, Dalits and other minorities must be stopped immediately, while stressing that there was "no democracy without dissent". It also noted that the chant "Jai Shri Ram" had been reduced to a "provocative war cry".