Babri Demolition: Former Civil Servants Express ‘Collective Agony’ Over ‘Injustice’

New Delhi: Close to 50 retired civil servants have expressed their “anguish” over “injustice” over demolition of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya and “where the country stands today”, as those responsible saty unpunished.

Releasing a joint statement on the December 6, the day the mosque was demolished in Ayodhya by Hindutva activists, the retired civil servants expressed “deep concern” that those who were responsible for this “crime which tore India apart and led to the highest levels of communal bloodletting after the Partition riots, have still not been punished, even though the Supreme Court directed that this criminal case be heard on a day-to-day basis.”

Read the full statement below:

We, a collective of retired civil servants deeply committed to the values and guarantees of the Indian constitution, share with our fellow Indians our extreme grief and deep concern about where India stands today, 27 years after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on 6 December, 1992.

2. We recall that 6 December is also the anniversary of the day on which the man who led the creation of one of the finest constitutions in the world, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, left this world. The battle for the land on which the medieval mosque in Ayodhya stood was at its core a battle for the defence of the highest values of this constitution.

3. This was not simply a title dispute over a tiny piece of land in a dusty small town. It was not even a contest between a medieval mosque, now razed, with a grand temple, still imagined. It was a dispute about what kind of country this is and will be in the future, to who does it belong, and on what terms must people of different identities and beliefs live together in this vast and teeming land.

4. We feel intense anguish because 27 years after the mosque was demolished, those who were responsible for this crime which tore India apart and led to the highest levels of communal bloodletting after the Partition riots, have still not been punished, even though the Supreme Court directed that this criminal case be heard on a day-to-day basis. Instead, many of those who led and participated in this assault not just on a mosque but on India’s constitutional morality, have held some of the highest offices in this country.

5. We worry also that the recent judgment of the Supreme Court of India in effect rewards this grave crime. It also creates a false and illusory notion that a verdict favouring those who claim to speak for the majority community can result in peace and reconciliation and everyone should move on, injustice notwithstanding.

6. In this deeply troubling moment in the journey of this country which we love, we contest resolutely the message that it seems to convey to India’s religious minorities that their claim to this country and its democratic institutions is subordinate to anyone. We would like to recall the famous dictum “Freedom is the outcome of the tranquillity of peace and peace emanates from justice.” Freedom and justice are the soul of our constitution.

7. This is a time when every Indian should recall Mahatma Gandhi’s last fast, two weeks before he was assassinated. One of his three demands was that the mosques and dargahs in Delhi in which Hindu idols had been inserted should be returned respectfully to the Muslims.

Hinduism, he said, would be emptied for him of meaning if a single place of worship of another faith was desecrated in the name of the Hindu faith.

8. We who sign this letter to the Indian people include a Jain, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, atheists and agnostics. We are together convinced that true religion never teaches violence and hate of another. Therefore, on 6 December, we first express our collective agony and atonement that a place of worship was pulled down with such hate. We also pledge that we will not allow our great Constitution to be emptied of its soul.

1. S.P. Ambrose IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Secretary, Ministry of Shipping & Transport, GoI

2. G. Balachandhran IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal

3. Gopalan Balagopal IAS (Retd.) Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal

4. Chandrashekhar Balakrishnan, IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Coal, GoI

5. Sharad Behar IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh

6. Madhu Bhaduri IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Portugal

7. Sundar Burra IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra

8. Anna Dani IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra

9. M.G. Devasahayam, IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Govt. of Haryana

10. Sushil Dubey IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Sweden

11. Arif Ghauri IRS (Retd.) Former Governance Adviser, DFID, Govt. of the United Kingdom (on deputation)

12. S.K. Guha IAS (Retd.) Former Joint Secretary, Department of Women & Child Development, GoI

13. Meena Gupta IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, GoI

14. Sajjad Hassan IAS (Retd.), Former Commissioner (Planning), Govt. of Manipur

15. Kamal Jaswal IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Department of Information Technology, GoI

16. Vinod C. Khanna IFS (Retd.) Former Additional Secretary, MEA, GoI

17. Rahul Khullar IAS (Retd.) Former Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

18. K. John Koshy IAS (Retd.) Former State Chief Information Commissioner, West Bengal

19. Subodh Lal IPoS, (Retd.), Former Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications, GoI

20. Harsh Mander IAS (Retd.) Govt. of Madhya Pradesh

21. Lalit Mathur IAS (Retd.) Former Director General, National Institute of Rural Development, GoI

22. Aditi Mehta IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan

23. Sonalini Mirchandani, IFS, (Resigned), GoI

24. Noor Mohammad IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, National Disaster Management Authority, Govt. of India

25. Deb Mukharji, IFS (Retd.) Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh and former Ambassador to Nepal

26. Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, IFS (Retd.) Former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom

27. Nagalswamy IA&AS (Retd.), Former Principal Accountant General, Tamil Nadu & Kerala

28. P.G.J. Nampoothiri, IPS (Retd.) Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Gujarat

29. Surendra Nath IAS (Retd.) Former Member, Finance Commission, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh

30. Amitabha Pande IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI

31. C. Babu Rajeev IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, GoI

32. Satwant Reddy IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, GoI

33. Aruna Roy IAS, (Resigned)

34. Deepak Sanan IAS (Retd.) Former Principal Adviser (AR) to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh

35. G. Sankaran IC&CES, (Retd.), Former President, Customs, Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal

36. S. Satyabhama IAS (Retd.) Former Chairperson, National Seeds Corporation, GoI

37. N.C. Saxena IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Planning Commission, GoI

38. Ardhendu Sen IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal

39. Ashok Kumar Sharma, IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Finland and Estonia

40. Navrekha Sharma IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Indonesia

41. Raju Sharma IAS (Retd.) Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh

42. Har Mander Singh IAS (Retd.) Former Director General, ESI Corporation, GoI

43. Parveen Talha IRS (Retd.) Former Member, Union Public Service Commission

44. Thanksy Thekkekera, IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Minorities Development, Govt. of Maharashtra

45. P.S.S. Thomas IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission

46. Hindal Tyabji IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary rank, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir.