A group of 75 former civil servants on Friday wrote an open letter, saying that great injustice has been done to farmers and is still continuing.

“All that has happened since [December 11] has made us feel even more strongly that great injustice has been done and continues to be done to the farmers,” the group, called the Constitutional Conduct Group, said. “Therefore, we urge the GoI [Goverment of India] to take remedial action on an issue which has caused so much turmoil in the country over the past several months.” The group had written to the government on December 11, supporting the farmers.

The signatories are all former civil servants of either the central or the state governments, including Anita Agnihotri, Harsh Mander, Najeeb Jung, Julio Ribeiro, Tirlochan Singh and Jawhar Sircar, among others.

On the Republic Day incident, the group said the government has still not responded to the farmers’ assertion that the Delhi Police erected barricades on the route agreed upon for the tractor rally, forcing a few of the farmers to take a different route.

“When one section of farmers hoisted their flag below the National Flag at the Red Fort, why were the police doing literally nothing to prevent this occurrence?” the civil servants asked. “What action has the GoI [Government of India] initiated against those in the Delhi Police, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Defence for dereliction of duty?”

Read their full statement

We are a group of former civil servants of the All India and Central Services who have worked with the Central and State Governments in the course of our careers. As a group, we have no affiliation with any political party but believe in impartiality, neutrality and commitment to the Constitution of India. We, the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), would like to reassert and reiterate our support for the farmers who are agitating for repeal of the three farm laws. We are particularly concerned about the developments that took place on 26 January 2021, Republic Day, the efforts to lay the blame on the farmers for the disruption of law and order on that day and the events that have followed.

2.         We note the following with grave concern:

2.1       The approach of the Government of India (GoI) towards the farmers’ protest has been an adversarial and confrontationist one from the very beginning, treating the apolitical farmers like an irresponsible opposition to be derided, demonised and defeated. The repeated, albeit unsuccessful, attempts to polarise the agitation along regional, communal and other lines are also reprehensible. Such an approach can never lead to a solution.

2.2   Regarding the incidents that happened on Republic Day:

i)          The GoI has still not responded to the farmers’ assertion that the Delhi Police erected barricades on the route agreed upon by both the farmers and the Delhi Police for the tractor rally due to which  a few of the farmers were forced to take another route.

ii)         When one section of farmers hoisted their flag below the National Flag at the Red Fort, why were the police doing literally nothing to prevent this occurrence? What action has the GoI initiated against those in the Delhi Police, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Defence for dereliction of duty?

iii)        Why is it that this particular action by a few unruly elements was shown repeatedly by the government controlled and other media? What happened in the remaining places? Why was the peaceful tractor parade in other places, with citizens welcoming the farmers with flowers and food, not shown?

2.3       Post Republic Day:

i)          How is it that in Singhu, where there were barricades clearly dividing the farmers sitting in demonstration, a few hooligans were able to break the barricades and attack the farmers in the presence of police? Why did the police intervene much after the attack took place? We have seen TV visuals where one unruly person had even snatched a lathi from a policeman and attacked one of the farmers.

ii)         Why is it that essential services to the agitating farmers such as water, electricity and the internet have been blocked, putting the thousands of people gathered there to unspeakable difficulties?

iii) Why have barricades with concrete barriers, concertina wire, nails and spikes been raised on the borders of Delhi to prevent the agitating farmers from entering? Such barricades are not even erected on the borders of India with its neighbouring countries! Are the agitating farmers being seen as enemies of the country?

3.1       Why are sedition charges made out against certain journalists and a Member of Parliament of an opposition party on flimsy grounds, solely for certain tweets posted by them when the factual position was not clear? The registration of the same case with very similar First Information Reports in various states run by the BJP smacks of vindictiveness and seems to be aimed at muzzling legitimate, democratic protests against the policies of the GoI.

3.2       Holding or presenting a view against the GoI or reporting different versions given by different people about an incident can, under no law, be held as an act against the nation. It bears repetition to say that a protest against a policy or action of the Government is not an act of sedition against the nation.

3.3       Withdrawal of cases against the farmers and tweeters, including the journalists, withdrawal of cases against all except miscreants who engaged in unlawful activities and stopping the vicious and sickening propaganda of calling the farmers Khalistanis are the minimum requirement for a conducive atmosphere for resumption of talks.

4.         If the GoI is indeed interested in an amicable solution, instead of proposing half-hearted steps such as putting the laws on hold for eighteen months, it can withdraw the three laws and think of other possible solutions, given the basic Constitutional position that the subject of agriculture is in the States’ list in the Constitution of India.

5.         We in the CCG have, on 11 December 2020, issued a statement supporting the stand of the farmers. All that has happened since has made us feel even more strongly that great injustice has been done and continues to be done to the farmers. Therefore, we urge the GoI to take remedial action on an issue which has caused so much turmoil in the country over the past several months.

6.         We reassert and reiterate our support to the agitating farmers while expecting the GoI to provide a healing touch and to solve the issue to the satisfaction of the stakeholders.

SATYAMEVA JAYATE

 
1.Anita Agnihotri, IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Department of Social Justice Empowerment, GoI

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

3. Anand Arni, R&AW (Retd.) Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI

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

5. Vappala Balachandran, IPS (Retd.) Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI

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

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

8. T.K. Banerji, IAS (Retd.) Former Member, Union Public Service Commission

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

10. Aurobindo Behera, IAS (Retd.) Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Odisha

11. Madhu Bhaduri, IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Portugal

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

13. Kalyani Chaudhuri, IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal

14. Gurjit Singh Cheema, IAS (Retd.) Former Financial Commissioner (Revenue), Govt. of Punjab

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

16. P.R. Dasgupta, IAS (Retd.) Former Chairman, Food Corporation of India, GoI

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

18. Sushil Dubey, IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Sweden

19. A.S. Dulat, IPS (Retd.) Former OSD on Kashmir, Prime Minister’s Office, GoI

20. K.P. Fabian, IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Italy

21. Gourisankar Ghosh, IAS (Retd.) Former Mission Director, National Drinking Water Mission, GoI

22. Suresh K. Goel, IFS (Retd.) Former Director General, Indian Council of Cultural Relations, GoI

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

24. H.S. Gujral, IFoS (Retd.) Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Govt. of Punjab

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

26. Ravi Vira Gupta, IAS (Retd.) Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India

27. Wajahat Habibullah, IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, GoI and Chief Information Commissioner

28. Deepa Hari, IRS (Resigned)  

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

30. Najeeb Jung, IAS (Retd.) Former Lieutenant Governor, Delhi

31. Ish Kumar, IPS (Retd.) Former DGP (Vigilance & Enforcement), Govt. of Telangana and former Special Rapporteur, National Human Rights Commission

32. P.K. Lahiri, IAS (Retd.) Former ED, Asian Development Bank & Former Revenue Secretary, GoI

33. Subodh Lal, IPoS (Resigned) Former Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications, GoI

34. Harsh Mander, IAS (Retd.) Govt. of Madhya Pradesh

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

36. Sonalini Mirchandani, IFS (Resigned) GoI

37. Sunil Mitra, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, Ministry of Finance, GoI

38. Avinash Mohananey, IPS (Retd.), Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Sikkim

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

40. P. Joy Oommen, IAS (Retd.), Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Chhattisgarh

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

42. Alok Perti, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, Ministry of Coal, GoI

43. R. Poornalingam, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, GoI

44. Rajesh Prasad, IFS (Retd.), Former Ambassador to the Netherlands

45. T.R. Raghunandan, IAS (Retd.), Former Joint Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, GoI

46. V.P. Raja, IAS (Retd.), Former Chairman, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission

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

48. K. Sujatha Rao, IAS (Retd.), Former Health Secretary, GoI

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

50. Vijaya Latha Reddy, IFS (Retd.), Former Deputy National Security Adviser, GoI

51. Julio Ribeiro, IPS (Retd.), Former Adviser to Governor of Punjab & former Ambassador to Romania

52. Aruna Roy, IAS (Resigned), 

53. Manabendra N. Roy, IAS (Retd.), Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal

54. A.K. Samanta, IPS (Retd.), Former Director General of Police (Intelligence), Govt. of West Bengal

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

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

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

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

59. Abhijit Sengupta, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI

60. Aftab Seth, IFS (Retd.), Former Ambassador to Japan

61. Ashok Kumar Sharma, IFoS (Retd.), Former MD, State Forest Development Corporation, Govt. of Gujarat

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

63. Navrekha Sharma, IFS (Retd.), Former Ambassador to Indonesia

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

65. Hardial Singh, IAS (Retd.), Former Presiding Officer, Schools and Colleges Tribunal (Chief Secretary rank), Govt. of Punjab

66. Ramesh Inder Singh, IAS (Retd.), Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Punjab and former Chief Information Commissioner, Punjab

67. Tirlochan Singh, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, National Commission for Minorities, GoI

68. Jawhar Sircar, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI, & former CEO, Prasar Bharati

69. Narendra Sisodia, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, Ministry of Finance, GoI

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

71. Geetha Thoopal, IRAS (Retd.), Former General Manager, Metro Railway, Kolkata

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

73. Jawed Usmani, IAS (Retd.), Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh & former Chief Information Commissioner, Uttar Pradesh

74. Ashok Vajpeyi, IAS (Retd.), Former Chairman, Lalit Kala Akademi

75. Ramani Venkatesan, IAS (Retd.), Former Director General, YASHADA, Govt. of Maharashtra

Thousands of farmers have been camped in the border areas of Delhi for over two months, demanding that the Centre repeal the new agricultural legislations that they say will benefit private buyers at their expense. Their agitation has been largely peaceful.

But things changed on January 26, when a section of the protestors participating in a tractor rally stormed into the Red Fort in Delhi. One protestor was killed and over 300 police officers were injured as farmers broke through barricades and poured into the city, clashing with the police that tried to push them back with tear gas and a baton charge.

Ever since, the Narendra Modi government has launched a crackdown on the demonstration. Police complaints against farmer leaders followed, as did arrest of hundreds of protestors and registration of first information reports against journalists.

The home ministry has also ordered a shutdown of internet services in the three border areas. Though the blockade was officially lifted on February 2, internet services at the protest sites continued to remain erratic.

The Delhi Police has put up elaborate arrangements – digging ditches, erecting concrete barricades and spreading razor wires across main roads at Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur borders of the Capital.