To the Prime Minister of India, Chief Ministers of the States, and Lieutenant-Governors of the Union Territories,
We are a group of Veterans of the Indian Armed Forces who have spent our careers working for the security of our country. Collectively, our group holds no affiliation with any single political party, our only common commitment being to the Constitution of India.
It saddens us to write this letter, but current events in India have compelled us to register our dismay at the divisiveness that is gripping our country. We stand with the ‘Not in My Name' campaign that mobilised thousands of citizens across the country to protest against the current climate of fear, intimidation, hate and suspicion.
The Armed Forces stand for “Unity in Diversity”. Differences in religion, language, caste, culture or any other marker of belonging have not mattered to the cohesion of the Armed Forces, and servicemen of different backgrounds have fought shoulder to shoulder in the defence of our nation, as they continue to do today. Throughout our service, a sense of openness, justice and fair play guided our actions. We are one family. Our heritage is like the multi-coloured quilt that is India, and we cherish this vibrant diversity.
However, what is happening in our country today strikes at all that the Armed Forces, and indeed our Constitution, stand for. We are witness to unprecedented attacks on society at large by the relentless vigilantism of self-appointed protectors of Hinduism. We condemn the targeting of Muslims and Dalits. We condemn the clampdowns on free speech by attacks on media outlets, civil society groups, universities, journalists and scholars, through a campaign of branding them antinational and unleashing violence against them while the State looks away.
We can no longer look away. We would be doing a disservice to our country if we do not stand up and speak for the liberal and secular values that our Constitution espouses. Our diversity is our greatest strength. Dissent is not treason; in fact, it is the essence of democracy.
We urge the powers that be at the Centre and in the States to take note of our concerns and urgently act to uphold our Constitution, both in letter and in spirit.
Signatories(in alphabetical order of last name)
1. Lt Col E.N. Ambre
2. Brig V.K.S. Antony
3. Maj M.K. Apte
4. Col C.T. Arasu
5. Lt Col Israr Asghar
6. Cdr C.R. Babu
7. Lt Cdr P.S Bal
8. Lt Cdr Rakeh Bali
9. Maj Gen Dipankar Banerjee
10. Lt Gen C.A. Barretto
11. Brig Noel Barretto
12. Col T.S. Bedi
13. Surg Cdr P. Bellubi
14. Petty Off Gajanan Bhat IN
15. Cdr P.G. Bhat
16. Gp Capt A.V. Bhagwat
17. Col V. Bopiah
18. Maj Gen P.R. Bose
19. Vice Adm A. Britto
20. Col RT Chacko
21. Lt Col M. Chandrasekhar
22. Cdre R. Clarke
23. Col K.S. Choudhry
24. Brig T.P.S. Chowdhury
25. Brig Dileep Deore
26. Col Samuel Dhar
27. Lt Gen F.T. Dias
28. Lt Col A.P. Durai
29. Gp Capt M.P. Elangovan
30. Maj Gen Shyamal Ghosh
31. Col V. Nanda Gopal
32. Cdre E.C. Govindan
33. Col V. Govindarajan
34. Col R.P. Grover
35. Cdre P.C. Gulati
36. Cdr M. Hari
37. Lt Col Muzaffar Hasan
38. Brig Prem Hejmadi
39. A.V.M. Kapil Kak
40. Col A.T. Kalghatgi
41. Maj Gen M.P.S. Kandal
42. Col M.S. Kapoor
43. Maj Gen T.K. Kaul
44. Lt Col P.B. Keskar
45. Lt Col V. Kharkar
46. Wg Cdr R. Khosla
47. Brig Anil Malhotra
48. Col Arun Malhotra
49. Lt Col R.C. Malhotra
50. Brig G.K. Malik
51. Cdre G. Menezes
52. Wg Cdr S.N. Metrani
53. Maj G.N. Misra
54. AVM R.P. Misra
55. Col Biman Mistry
56. Col R.B. Mistry
57. Col A.K. Mitra
58. Col Pradip Mitra
59. Maj Gen H. Mukherji
60. Maj Gen R.P.R.C. Naidu
61. Col Pavan Nair
62. Lt Col V.K. Nair
63. Col R.L.V. Nath
64. Cdr M. Nirmal
65. Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi
66. Rear Adm Alan O'Leary
67. Air Cdre Tanpat Pannu
68. Lt Col Niraj Pant
69. Col R.C. Patial
70. Cdr Hector Poppen
71. Capt Subbarao Prabhala IN
72. Brig Ranjit Prasad
73. Brig V.H.M. Prasad
74. Wg Cdr K.V. Raghuram
75. Brig R.S. Rajan
76. Col S.S. Rajan
77. Cdr S.M. Rajeshwar
78. Air Marshal Philip Rajkumar
79. Col T.N. Raman
80. Admiral L. Ramdas
81. Vice Admiral I.C. Rao
82. Col T.K. Ravindranath
83. Air Marshal D.S. Sabhikhi
84. Lt Col Nagaraj Sastry
85. Lt Gen K.M. Seth
86. Col P.D. Shah
87. Brig Baqir Shameem
88. Lt Gen Y.N. Sharma
89. Lt Col H.D. Shirmane
90. Vice Admiral M.R. Schunker
91. Cdr M.A. Somana
92. Brig Amardeep Singh
93. Gp Capt D.R. Singh
94. Brig Joginder Singh
95. Brig Mastinder Singh
96. Cdr Rajiv Singh
97. Col Salam K. Singh
98. Col S. Srikantha
99. Brig M. Sudandiram
100. Flt Lt R. Suresh
101. Sgt M.N. Subramani
102. Lt Cdr P. Subramanyam
103. Maj Gen L. Tahliani
104. Cdr S.P. Taneja
105. Cdr T.P. Tharian
106. Lt Col J.K. Thomas
107. Cdr M. Thomas
108. Cdr N. Tripathy
109. Air Marshal N.V. Tyagi
110. Capt A.K. Varma
111. Wg Cdr B.J. Vaz
112. Maj Rajah Velu
113. Lt Col R. Venugopal
114. Maj Gen S.G. Vombatkere
July 30, 2017